Florian Maurice does not support France in the 1998 World Cup final

Florian Maurice, former striker for Lyon, Olympique de Marseille and Paris Saint‑Germain, admits he did not support France during the 1998 World Cup final, played on July 12 against Brazil, a match the Blues won 3‑0.

A promising start in Paris

Transferred that summer from Lyon to PSG, Maurice scored seven goals in twelve Ligue 1 matches, a start that hinted at the dream of a national‑team call‑up. But his form quickly declined: no further goals came after the twelfth matchday, which contributed to his absence from the World Cup.

The missed train and the final in Biarritz

On July 12, 1998, he was training in Biarritz with Olympique de Marseille, the club he had joined in the summer of 1998 after his stint in Paris. “I’m training in Biarritz with Olympique de Marseille, I think I was sharing a room with Daniel Bravo,” he recalls in the Podcast of Legends. He then confesses: “We watch it but I don’t want them to win,” adding that he was not “happy in front of the final.”

Ephemeral call‑ups

Selected for the first time for the French national team in 1996, Maurice aimed for the World Cup after being called up for the France Tournament in 1997. Roger Lemerre kept him for the match following the triumph, against Austria (2‑2). He then earned two more caps: against Morocco in January 1999 and against Croatia in November 1999, where he scored his only international goal, totaling six caps.

A shared feeling

He is not the only one to feel this discomfort. Laurent Koscielny, who missed out on the 2018 World Cup, said in October 2018: “I was really happy for them but at the same time disgusted,” adding that he wanted them to qualify while wishing they would lose. The two testimonies illustrate the duality between national pride and personal ambition.

The regret of a shattered dream

“An eternal regret,” Maurice concludes, recalling that his dream of playing on the world stage vanished at the same moment the Blues lifted the trophy. His testimony shows how a brilliant club career can clash with the reality of a national team and the collective joy of supporters.