France celebrated their first Fifa World Cup after hosting the 1998 event. Photo: AFP
The Fifa World Cup was expanded from 24 teams to 32 for the 1998 edition in France, and with it came a new format and rules.
The golden goal was introduced, as well as the use of three substitutes. Tackling a player from behind was also banned in an effort to protect the attacking player, which could arguably be considered the start of the era dominated by player power.
South Africa made their first appearance at the showpiece event. The nation had been previously expelled from CAF in 1958 for refusing to field a mixed-racial team, and then suspended in 1961 by Fifa. South Africa were formally expelled from Fifa, due to apartheid, as part of the larger sports boycott in 1976.
In 1992, the country was readmitted to Fifa with the creation of the non-racial Safa. South Africa had attempted to qualify for the 1994 edition of the World Cup in the US, but failed to progress further than the first-round group stages, losing out to Nigeria.
