Disgraced former president of UEFA, Michel Platini, has claimed that the 1998 World Cup was designed so that France will only get to play Brazil in the final.
France, who hosted the tournament that year, defeated Brazil 3-0 thanks to a brace from Zinedine Zidane and an Emmanuel Petit strike.
According to Platini, who was on the organising committee of the tournament, it had been “the dream of everyone” to see the hosts beat the now five-time world champions in the final.
“When we organised the calendar, we did a little maneuvering,” he told France Bleu Sport .
“If we finished first in the group and Brazil finished first, we could not meet before the final.”
The Brazilians were drawn into Group A, where they beat Scotland and Morocco before surprisingly losing to Norway, while France won all three of their matches in Group C against South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Denmark.
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