FIFA World Cup 1998 Group D
Nigeria returned with the same manager and a squad largely unchanged from that which had done so well in 1994 and once again showed their quality and inconsistency. Bulgaria were unable to reproduce the form that saw them finish fourth in 1994 while Paraguay equalled their achievement of 1986 by reaching the second stage.
You are welcome to contact me with corrections or additions.
1998 Overview | Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H | Knock Out Stages
Paraguay
Bulgaria
Paraguay 0 Bulgaria 0
Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier (27,650)
12 June 1998
Anatoli Nankov was sent off in the final minute after receiving a second yellow card but there were no goals.
Nigeria
Spain
Nigeria 3 Spain 2
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes (33,257)
13 June 1998
Hierro opened the scoring for Spain in the 20th minute with a tremendous free-kick but four minutes later Adepoju equalised with a powerful header from a corner. Raúl restored Spain's lead after 46 minutes, volleying home a long ball. With 18 minutes left, Lawal fired the ball across from the goal line, wrong footing the Spanish goalkeeper who diverted the ball into his own net. In the 77th minute Oliseh fired home an unstoppable short from fully 30 yards to give Nigeria a famous victory.
Nigeria
Bulgaria
Nigeria 1 Bulgaria 0
Parc des Princes, Paris (45,500)
19 June 1998
Ikpeba's 26th minute goal was enough to assure Nigeria of a place in the knock out phase.
Spain
Paraguay
Spain 0 Paraguay 0
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne (30,600)
19 June 1998
After defeat against Nigeria, Spain badly needed a win but they were unable to break down Paraguay's defence.
Paraguay
Nigeria
Paraguay 3 Nigeria 1
Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse (33,500)
24 June 1998
Ayala gave Paraguay the perfect start, scoring a dramatic goal from a free kick in the first minute. Oruma equalised in the tenth minute but in the second half, Paraguay took control with goals from Benitez (58') and Cardozo (86'). The win meant that Paraguay finished in second place one point ahead of Spain.
Spain
Bulgaria
Spain 6 Bulgaria 1
Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens (38,100)
24 June 1998
Spain finally showed what they could do but even a flourish of three goals in the last ten minutes was not enough to undo the damage of their previous results and they were eliminated.