1998 FIFA World Cup Group H

Group H at the 1998 FIFA World Cup comprised CONMEBOL representatives Argentina, and three World Cup debutants: Croatia, competing from the UEFA confederation; Jamaica of CONCACAF; and Japan from the Asian Football Confederation.

Argentina qualified with a match to spare after they beat Japan and Jamaica with Gabriel Batistuta scoring in both games. Croatia did the same with Davor Šuker scoring in both games. Argentina then beat Croatia to take first place, while Jamaica got their first ever points in a World Cup finals tournament by beating Japan.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Argentina	3	3	0	0	7	0	+7	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Croatia	3	2	0	1	4	2	+2	6
3	Jamaica	3	1	0	2	3	9	−6	3
4	Japan	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0

Source: FIFA

• Argentina advanced to play England (runner-up of Group G) in the round of 16.
• Croatia advanced to play Romania (winner of Group G) in the round of 16.

Matches

Argentina vs Japan

14 June 1998

14:30 CET (UTC+1)

Argentina	1–0	Japan
Batistuta 28'	Report

Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse

Attendance: 33,500

Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands)

Argentina

Japan

GK 1 Carlos Roa RB 14 Nelson Vivas CB 2 Roberto Ayala CB 6 Roberto Sensini  72' LB 22 Javier Zanetti DM 5 Matías Almeyda CM 8 Diego Simeone (c) CM 11 Juan Sebastián Verón AM 10 Ariel Ortega CF 7 Claudio López  61' CF 9 Gabriel Batistuta Substitutions: FW 18 Abel Balbo  61' DF 3 José Chamot  72' Manager: Daniel Passarella

GK 20 Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi CB 17 Yutaka Akita CB 4 Masami Ihara (c)  26' CB 19 Eisuke Nakanishi  67' RM 2 Akira Narahashi CM 6 Motohiro Yamaguchi CM 10 Hiroshi Nanami LM 3 Naoki Soma  84' AM 8 Hidetoshi Nakata CF 9 Masashi Nakayama  65' CF 18 Shoji Jo Substitutions: FW 12 Wagner Lopes  65' MF 22 Takashi Hirano  90+2'  84' Manager: Takeshi Okada

Assistant referees: Marc Van den Broeck (Belgium) Eddie Foley (Republic of Ireland) Fourth official: Ryszard Wójcik (Polish)

Jamaica vs Croatia

To date, this is the last match in which both sides were playing their first ever FIFA World Cup fixture. It was the first time it had happened since 1974, when East Germany played Australia.

14 June 1998

21:00 CET (UTC+1)

Jamaica	1–3	Croatia
Earle 45'	Report	Stanić 27' Prosinečki 53' Šuker 69'

Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens

Attendance: 38,100

Referee: Vítor Melo Pereira (Portugal)

Jamaica

Croatia

GK 1 Warren Barrett (c) CB 19 Frank Sinclair CB 7 Peter Cargill  69' CB 5 Ian Goodison RM 6 Fitzroy Simpson CM 11 Theodore Whitmore CM 16 Robbie Earle  74' LM 15 Ricardo Gardner RF 18 Deon Burton  62' CF 17 Onandi Lowe LF 22 Paul Hall  81' Substitutions: MF 20 Darryl Powell  69' FW 9 Andrew Williams  74' FW 10 Walter Boyd  81' Manager: René Simões

GK 1 Dražen Ladić CB 6 Slaven Bilić CB 14 Zvonimir Soldo  5' CB 4 Igor Štimac RWB 20 Dario Šimić  59'  74' LWB 17 Robert Jarni CM 8 Robert Prosinečki CM 7 Aljoša Asanović AM 10 Zvonimir Boban (c) CF 13 Mario Stanić CF 9 Davor Šuker Substitutions: FW 19 Goran Vlaović  74' Manager: Miroslav Blažević

Assistant referees: Nicolae Grigorescu (Romania) Jacques Poudevigne (France) Fourth official: Bernd Heynemann (Germany)

Japan vs Croatia

20 June 1998

14:30 CET (UTC+1)

Japan	0–1	Croatia
	Report	Šuker 77'

Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Attendance: 35,500

Referee: Ramesh Ramdhan (Trinidad and Tobago)

Japan

Croatia

GK 20 Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi CB 17 Yutaka Akita  89' CB 4 Masami Ihara (c) CB 19 Eisuke Nakanishi  70' RM 2 Akira Narahashi  79' CM 6 Motohiro Yamaguchi CM 10 Hiroshi Nanami  41'  84' LM 3 Naoki Soma AM 8 Hidetoshi Nakata CF 9 Masashi Nakayama  61' CF 18 Shoji Jo Substitutions: FW 14 Masayuki Okano  61' MF 15 Hiroaki Morishima  79' FW 12 Wagner Lopes  84' Manager: Takeshi Okada

GK 1 Dražen Ladić CB 6 Slaven Bilić CB 14 Zvonimir Soldo CB 4 Igor Štimac  46' RWB 20 Dario Šimić LWB 17 Robert Jarni DM 21 Krunoslav Jurčić CM 8 Robert Prosinečki  26'  67' CM 7 Aljoša Asanović CF 13 Mario Stanić  70'  88' CF 9 Davor Šuker (c) Substitutions: FW 19 Goran Vlaović  46' MF 11 Silvio Marić  67' DF 15 Igor Tudor  88' Manager: Miroslav Blažević

Assistant referees: Marere Gonzales (Trinidad and Tobago) Achmat Salie (South Africa) Fourth official: Gunter Benko (Austria)

Argentina vs Jamaica

21 June 1998

17:30 CET (UTC+1)

Argentina	5–0	Jamaica
Ortega 31', 55' Batistuta 73', 78', 83' (pen.)	Report

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 45,500

Referee: Rune Pedersen (Norway)

Argentina

Jamaica

GK 1 Carlos Roa RB 22 Javier Zanetti CB 2 Roberto Ayala CB 6 Roberto Sensini  25' LB 3 José Chamot  65' DM 5 Matías Almeyda CM 8 Diego Simeone (c)  80' CM 11 Juan Sebastián Verón AM 10 Ariel Ortega CF 7 Claudio López  75' CF 9 Gabriel Batistuta Substitutions: DF 14 Nelson Vivas  25' MF 20 Marcelo Gallardo  75' DF 4 Mauricio Pineda  80' Manager: Daniel Passarella

GK 1 Warren Barrett (c) DF 2 Stephen Malcolm  62' DF 3 Chris Dawes DF 5 Ian Goodison MF 6 Fitzroy Simpson MF 11 Theodore Whitmore  73' DF 15 Ricardo Gardner FW 18 Deon Burton  46' DF 19 Frank Sinclair MF 20 Darryl Powell  4'  45+1' FW 22 Paul Hall Substitutions: DF 7 Peter Cargill  88'  46' FW 10 Walter Boyd  62' MF 16 Robbie Earle  73' Manager: René Simões

Assistant referees: Mikael Nilsson (Sweden) Gennaro Mazzei (Italy) Fourth official: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)

Argentina vs Croatia

26 June 1998

16:00 CET (UTC+1)

Argentina	1–0	Croatia
Pineda 36'	Report

Parc Lescure, Bordeaux

Attendance: 31,800

Referee: Said Belqola (Morocco)

Argentina

Croatia

GK 1 Carlos Roa RB 14 Nelson Vivas  68' CB 2 Roberto Ayala  35' CB 13 Pablo Paz LB 4 Mauricio Pineda DM 22 Javier Zanetti  67' DM 5 Matías Almeyda CM 11 Juan Sebastián Verón AM 10 Ariel Ortega  23'  52' AM 20 Marcelo Gallardo  80' CF 9 Gabriel Batistuta (c) Substitutions: FW 7 Claudio López  52' MF 8 Diego Simeone  67' MF 16 Sergio Berti  80' Manager: Daniel Passarella

GK 1 Dražen Ladić CB 20 Dario Šimić CB 6 Slaven Bilić  20' CB 14 Zvonimir Soldo  43' RWB 11 Silvio Marić  46' LWB 17 Robert Jarni  58' CM 8 Robert Prosinečki  67' CM 7 Aljoša Asanović AM 10 Zvonimir Boban (c)  47' CF 13 Mario Stanić CF 9 Davor Šuker Substitutions: FW 19 Goran Vlaović  46' DF 4 Igor Štimac  67' Manager: Miroslav Blažević

Assistant referees: Aristidis Chris Soldatos (South Africa) Mohamed Mansri (Tunisia) Fourth official: An-Yan Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius)

Japan vs Jamaica

26 June 1998

16:00 CET (UTC+1)

Japan	1–2	Jamaica
Nakayama 74'	Report	Whitmore 39', 54'

Stade Gerland, Lyon

Attendance: 39,100

Referee: Günter Benkö (Austria)

Japan

Jamaica

GK 20 Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi CB 17 Yutaka Akita CB 4 Masami Ihara (c) CB 5 Norio Omura  58' RM 2 Akira Narahashi CM 6 Motohiro Yamaguchi  4' CM 10 Hiroshi Nanami  78' LM 3 Naoki Soma AM 8 Hidetoshi Nakata CF 9 Masashi Nakayama CF 18 Shoji Jo  58' Substitutions: FW 12 Wagner Lopes  58' MF 22 Takashi Hirano  58' MF 11 Shinji Ono  78' Manager: Takeshi Okada

GK 13 Aaron Lawrence DF 2 Stephen Malcolm  78' DF 3 Chris Dawes  88' DF 5 Ian Goodison (c) MF 6 Fitzroy Simpson  89' FW 8 Marcus Gayle  80' MF 11 Theodore Whitmore DF 15 Ricardo Gardner FW 17 Onandi Lowe DF 19 Frank Sinclair FW 22 Paul Hall  72' Substitutions: FW 10 Walter Boyd  72' FW 18 Deon Burton  80' MF 16 Robbie Earle  89' Manager: René Simões

Assistant referees: Evžen Amler (Czech Republic) Dramane Danté (Mali) Fourth official: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)

See also

• Argentina at the FIFA World Cup
• Croatia at the FIFA World Cup
• Jamaica at the FIFA World Cup
• Japan at the FIFA World Cup