FIFA 98

Lore & Background

FIFA 98 carries the weight of the 1998 World Cup in France, a tournament that is still remembered as one of the most iconic in the competition's history. France's home run, culminating in their first-ever World Cup title, gave the game a narrative backdrop that resonated with players worldwide. Star players of that era—Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and others—were rendered on the virtual pitch, their names and likenesses licensed into the game as part of EA Sports' growing roster of real-world partnerships.

The title sits within a franchise that had been publishing an entry nearly every year since the mid-1990s, steadily expanding from a 2D top-down experience into the 3D, broadcast-style presentation that had become the series' identity by this point. By 1998, the FIFA games had established themselves as a go-to football title on PlayStation and PC, competing in a market that also included titles like International Superstar Soccer and other sports franchises.

The game's licensed content included major European leagues, national teams, and the World Cup tournament structure, allowing players to manage or directly control clubs and nations in a simulation that aimed to mirror the feel of a live broadcast. The World Cup mode, with its group-stage and knockout progression, was a natural highlight given the real tournament's timing.

In Their Own Story

The stadium lights hum to life over a floodlit pitch in France. The crowd noise is a low, rolling thunder that swells as the kick-off whistle cuts through the air. On the screen, the ball sits at the centre circle, the French and Brazilian kits rendered in the slightly soft, polygonal fidelity that defined PlayStation-era football. You line up your XI, scroll through the squad list, and feel the quiet thrill of knowing that the names—Zidane, Deschamps, Leonardo, Ronaldo—belong to men who, weeks earlier, had lived this exact match in front of eighty thousand people. The match begins. The ball rolls. For ninety simulated minutes, the World Cup is yours to play, to lose, to replay until the final whistle sounds just the way you wanted it to.

Reader's Guide

FIFA 98 arrived in the shadow of the 1998 World Cup in France, and that context shaped nearly every design decision in the title. EA Canada leaned into the tournament as the game's centrepiece, structuring the World Cup mode around the real group-stage and knockout format so that players could relive the progression from opening matches through to the final in Stade de France.

By this point in the franchise, the series had moved firmly into 3D, broadcast-angle presentation. The camera sat behind the action in a way that felt closer to a television feed than the top-down views of the earliest entries. Player models were more detailed, animations smoother, and the overall pace of play had been tuned to feel less arcade-y and more simulation-oriented, a direction the series would continue refining for years.

Licensing was a growing pillar of the franchise's identity. FIFA 98 carried the names and kits of major European leagues, national teams, and the World Cup itself, a package that set it apart from unlicensed competitors and reinforced EA Sports' strategy of making the game feel like a broadcast you could step into. The PlayStation and PC versions brought that experience to the living room at a time when football gaming was becoming a mainstream hobby rather than a niche pastime.

For fans looking back, FIFA 98 represents a high-water mark of the PS1-era FIFA games: a title that married a landmark real-world tournament with a polished, accessible simulation, and that helped cement the annual FIFA release as a cultural fixture for football fans worldwide.

Did You Know?

• FIFA 98 was built around the 1998 FIFA World Cup, which France hosted and ultimately won, claiming their first World Cup title.
• The game was developed by EA Canada, the studio that has been the primary developer behind the FIFA series for its entire run.
• By 1998, the FIFA franchise had transitioned from its early 2D top-down roots into the 3D, broadcast-style presentation that became its long-term visual identity.
• The title's licensed content included major European club leagues and national teams, reflecting EA Sports' strategy of using real-world partnerships as a key differentiator.