World Cup Soccer Finals in 1998 Awarded to France on First Vote

Sixty years later, soccer’s No. 1 event will return to France.

The 1998 World Cup finals were awarded to France, which beat Morocco on Thursday in a vote of the 19-member executive committee of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body.

France, one of the game’s oldest strongholds and a FIFA founder, has not played host to the Cup finals since 1938.

Only one ballot was needed for the 12-7 decision, which ended Morocco’s second bid for the 24-nation championship tournament.

The committee quashed Switzerland’s candidacy to avoid two competing European bids.

The 1994 World Cup will be held in the United States. The event has never been held outside Europe or the Americas.

“This award is the crowning glory of three years of work,” said Fernand Sastre, chief organizer of the French bid. “It’s a great day for French football, a great joy.”

Michel Platini, the French national team coach and one of his nation’s sports idols, resigned after the decision and is expected to help organize the World Cup.

France, which has never won the World Cup, automatically qualifies for the 1998 championship as host.