France celebrated hosting their first World Cup finals by winning the competition for the first time, beating holders Brazil 3-0 in the final in Paris.

Les Bleus served early notice of their intent by winning three out of three in their group, scoring nine goals in the process.

Iran created a stir by winning a politically-charged encounter against the USA, while Spain were high-profile casualties as they lost 3-2 to Nigeria and drew 0-0 with Paraguay, rendering a 6-1 win over Bulgaria worthless.

Round two almost saw the hosts slip out of the competition at the hands of Paraguay, who took France to golden goal extra-time, before Laurent Blanc broke South American hearts.

The meeting of Argentina and England was predictably fiery, with David Beckham sent off and Michael Owen announcing his arrival with a superb solo effort in the 2-2 draw.

As had happened before, England missed out in the shootout, going down 4-3.

In the quarter-finals France were again taken to the wire, with Italy forcing a penalty shootout, but the Azzurri's misery from the previous World Cup continued as they were edged out 4-3.

Brazil won 3-2 against an attack-minded Denmark outfit, with Rivaldo scoring twice for the pre-tournament favourites.

A last-minute stunner from Dennis Bergkamp saw Holland see off Argentina, but it was Croatia who made most of the headlines with a 3-0 dismissal of Germany in Lyon.

Holland and Brazil could not be separated in their semi-final, with the South Americans emerging 4-2 winners on penalties to make it through to a second successive final.

Croatia threatened a major upset against the hosts as the tournament's leading scorer, Davor Suker, gave them the lead, but Lilian Thuram picked exactly the right time to score his first two international goals to send France into the final.

Once there, France made no mistake, against a Brazil side rocked by pre-match doubts over the appearance of star striker Ronaldo.

Talisman Zinedine Zidane headed home twice from set-pieces and despite the sending-off of Marcel Desailly, Les Bleus rounded off a superb tournament with Emmanuel Petit netting to wrap up a 3-0 victory.