World Cup 98 is EA Sports’ officially licensed football game built to coincide with that year’s FIFA World Cup in France, released on the Nintendo 64 in 1998 by Electronic Arts. It marked a shift from the flat, bird’s-eye-view World Cup games of earlier consoles to a fully 3D match engine, using the N64’s analog stick for finer control over passing angles and player movement. National squads carry accurate kits and kit-manufacturer logos (only the goalkeepers wear a generic strip), and a friendly mode opens up several nations that didn’t actually qualify for the 1998 tournament alongside the official World Cup competition.
How to Play
Move your player with the analog stick (arrow keys). On offense, A passes to a teammate and B shoots, with a quick tap of B firing a poke shot and a double-tap of C-Down chipping the keeper; hold C-Down to build up a lob, and tap C-Left to sprint. C-Right plays a through ball in behind the defense. On defense, A switches to the nearest defender, B puts in a conservative tackle, C-Down goes for an aggressive slide tackle, and C-Up commits a deliberate foul to stop a breakaway.
Tips
- Switch defenders with A instead of chasing the ball manually â it closes down attackers faster and keeps your defensive shape.
- Use C-Right through balls to spring a forward in behind flat World Cup back lines rather than dribbling into a crowd.
- Save the C-Up intentional foul for a genuine last-ditch stop on a clean breakaway; it’s a deliberate tactical option, not a free tackle.
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