Platini: 'Trickery' led to France, Brazil meeting in 1998 World Cup final

There was “a little trickery” implemented to increase the chances of France and Brazil meeting in the 1998 World Cup final, according to disgraced former UEFA president Michel Platini.

Platini, who is serving a four-year ban from football involvement following the 2015 guilty verdict regarding a “disloyal payment”, was the co-president of the World Cup organising committee in 1998, which France hosted.

In an interview with France Bleu Sport, the former French international revealed group allocations for seeded teams were deliberately arranged to produce a “dream” final featuring the host nation and defending World Cup champion Brazil.

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“When we organised the schedule, we did a little trickery,” he said, as translated by BBC Sport.

“France-Brazil in the final, it was the dream of everyone.

“If we finished first in the group and Brazil finished first, we could not meet before the final.”

He laughed as he went on: “We did not spend six years organising the World Cup to not do some little shenanigans. Do you think other World Cup hosts did not?”

Because Brazil was placed in Group A, which was standard practice at the time for the World Cup holder, France’s allocation to Group C ensured the two nations could not before the final if they both finished first in their groups, as was widely expected.

France went on to finish above Denmark, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia in Group C before getting past Paraguay, Italy, Croatia, and capturing the country’s first-ever World Cup with a 3-0 win over Brazil in the final at the Stade de France.