Florian Maurice remembers missing France’s 1998 triumph

Florian Maurice has revisited the pain of missing France’s 1998 World Cup triumph, admitting that he could not celebrate the national team’s victory over Brazil. His absence was especially difficult because he had spent the previous 18 months hoping to make the squad for the tournament on home soil.

France beat Brazil 3-0 in the final on 12 July 1998. Maurice watched the match while attending Marseille’s training camp in Biarritz, having joined the club after leaving Paris Saint-Germain. He had started the 1997-98 season strongly after moving from Lyon to PSG, scoring seven goals in his first 12 Ligue 1 appearances. His form then dropped, and he did not score again in the league after the 12th round, ending his hopes of selection.

Maurice later explained that seeing France win was hard because he was not part of the team. He acknowledged that he could not honestly describe himself as a major France supporter, despite eventually returning to the squad. Roger Lemerre selected him for the match after the final, a 2-2 draw against Austria.

The forward earned two more caps against Morocco in January 1999 and Croatia in November of that year. He scored his only international goal in the 1-0 win over Croatia, finishing with six appearances for France.