1999 FIFA Confederations Cup

Lore & Background

The tournament was originally scheduled for 8–20 January 1999, but was rescheduled by FIFA on 17 November 1998 to accommodate the scheduling of the participating European teams. The competition was to originally be held in three stadiums in three cities, but since the stadiums in Monterrey were sponsored by a competing beer company other than the official advertiser, the city was left out. Matches were played at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City (Group A and the final) and the Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara (Group B and the third place play-off).

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at the Azteca hummed like a living thing. Sixty thousand voices pressed against the stands, a wall of green and white noise that swallowed the pitch whole. Buffon crouched behind the line, fingers already finding the studs of his gloves, while Maldini stood at the top of his area, eyes scanning the American shape like a chess player reading a board. Chiesa was already drifting, that lazy, predatory drift, and Vieri bellowed something at Zola that no one in the stands could hear over the roar. The ball rose into the Mexican night, and for one suspended second the entire stadium held its breath—then the net rippled, and the Azteca exhaled a sound that was half roar, half sob. Italy had done it. Seventeen years, and they had done it.

Reader's Guide

The tournament featured eight teams representing the six continental confederations. Mexico qualified as host and as 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup winners, so the CONCACAF berth went to the United States. France qualified as 1998 World Cup winners but declined; Brazil took their place, and Bolivia replaced Brazil as CONMEBOL representatives. The other teams were Germany (UEFA), Saudi Arabia (AFC), Egypt (CAF), and New Zealand (OFC). The top two teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals. In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-outs were used if needed.

Did You Know?

• Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Marzouk Al-Otaibi, and Ronaldinho were the top scorers with six goals each; Ronaldinho won the Golden Shoe on assists.
• A total of 55 goals were scored by 29 different players, with no own goals.
• The tournament was originally scheduled for January 1999 but was moved to July–August to fit European teams' schedules.