In the late 1990s, the Champions League was still an elusive dream for my club, Sporting Lisbon. We hadn’t been champions since 1982, and every qualification was a burst of joy.
I remember it vividly: Sporting v Monaco, 17 September 1997. I was there at the old Estádio de Alvalade. A roaring 3-0 victory – one of those nights that fill you with joy and hope. But Sporting are a cruel love. Two defeats against Bayer Leverkusen left everything hanging on the final game, away in Monaco. At half-time, we were 2-0 up and already imagining the knockout stage. Then came two 20-year-olds called David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry. They turned the night upside down. Monaco won 3-2.
The following summer, those same youngsters were called up by Aimé Jacquet for the 1998 World Cup on home soil. Alongside them were Christophe Dugarry - already seasoned at Bordeaux, Milan and Barcelona - and one name I didn’t recognise: Stéphane Guivarc’h.
Watching the final on TV, listening to La Marseillaise and seeing Guivarc’h lining up between Zidane, Deschamps and Djorkaeff was baffling. What was he doing there? Yet, France became champions. Today, looking back, I want to understand: what did Jacquet see in Guivarc’h that made him the spearhead of a world champion?
From Concarneau to the Top Flight
Stéphane Pierre Yves Guivarc’h was born on 6 September 1970 in Concarneau, Brittany. He began at US Trégunc, joined Brest at 14. His professional debut came in 1989, but Brest’s fall from professional status in 1991 forced a move to Guingamp, then in the lower divisions.
At Guingamp, he first turned heads in 1993-94, scoring 25 goals in 33 games in French third division, lifting the club upwards. The next season he got 23 in Ligue 2 and was voted Division 2 Player of the Year by France Football. This was the foundation.
Auxerre, Rennes and the Build-Up to 1998
In 1995, Guivarc’h joined AJ Auxerre under the legendary Guy Roux, a coach renowned for building competitive sides from modest resources. That season, 1995-96, Auxerre achieved the greatest triumph in their history, winning both Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France. Guivarc’h’s personal contribution was modest - just three league goals - but the experience of being part of such a squad was formative.
For 1996-97 he was loaned to Stade Rennais, where he exploded: 22 league goals, making him Ligue 1’s top scorer, and 30 in all competitions. He returned to Auxerre for 1997-98 after Lilian Laslandes’ departure to Bordeaux left space for him to lead the line. That season he delivered spectacularly, finishing as Division 1’s top scorer once more with 21 goals.
It was also a remarkable year in Europe. Auxerre won the Intertoto Cup, with Guivarc’h scoring 10 goals to finish as the competition’s leading marksman, which secured their place in the UEFA Cup. He then topped the scoring charts there too, with seven goals, as Auxerre reached the quarter-finals before being narrowly eliminated 3-2 on aggregate by Lazio. Domestically, he added another highlight by finishing as top scorer in the Coupe de la Ligue.
In total, he struck 47 goals across 53 matches in all competitions - a phenomenal return that made him one of the most prolific strikers in Europe that year. By the summer of 1998, Guivarc’h entered the World Cup not just riding a wave of form but carrying the aura of a striker who had dominated every competition he entered, leading Auxerre on unexpected deep runs at home and abroad.
The France Call-Up & World Cup 1998
His international debut was on 11 October 1997 against South Africa. He scored on his debut as France won 2-1. That was the only goal in his 14 games for the national team.
For the World Cup, Guivarc’h was given the number 9 shirt. Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet were younger rivals; Dugarry provided another option. But Jacquet trusted Guivarc’h’s strength, work rate, aerial ability, movement off the ball. He saw a forward who could occupy defenders and create chances, not only finish them.
In the tournament opener against South Africa, France won 3-0. Guivarc’h started but was forced off after just 26 minutes with an injury, and his replacement Christophe Dugarry went on to score, with Thierry Henry also finding the net. He missed the next match, a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia, in which Henry scored twice and David Trezeguet added another. He returned later in the group stage, coming off the bench in the 2-1 victory over Denmark, and again featured as a substitute in the Round of 16 against Paraguay, where Laurent Blanc’s golden goal sealed progress.
In the quarter-final against Italy, Guivarc’h was restored to the starting line-up, playing until the 76th minute. His performance was combative - too much so at times - most notably when he caught Fabio Cannavaro with an elbow, a gesture that drew criticism from fans and media alike and which, under today’s VAR scrutiny, would almost certainly have earned him a red card. He kept his place in the semi-final against Croatia, again starting but departing after 69 minutes. France came from behind thanks to two unlikely goals from Lilian Thuram, his only goals in 142 caps.
And then came the final against Brazil. Guivarc’h led the line once more as France produced possibly the greatest night in their footballing history, a 3-0 triumph at the Stade de France. Zidane scored twice with those unforgettable headers before Emmanuel Petit added a late third. Guivarc’h worked tirelessly, occupying Aldair and Júnior Baiano, but his night was defined by missed chances: an ambitious bicycle kick that flew wide, a miscontrol after a Zidane pass, a left-foot strike saved by Taffarel, and a miskick after Cafu’s error.
He played in six of France’s seven matches, totalling around 271 minutes, yet never found the net.
After the final, many fans and media questioned his performance. Some said the team won despite their striker; others felt Guivarc’h did not live up to the expectations set by his club form.
The Stigma
After the final, many fans and sections of the media questioned Guivarc’h’s performance. Some claimed that France had won despite their striker, others felt he had failed to live up to the expectations set by his extraordinary club form.
The reaction was sharper than one might expect: despite arriving at the World Cup in red-hot form, his failure to score became the defining talking point. Critics suggested he was a liability, and many argued that Thierry Henry or David Trezeguet might have been more effective.
The phrase “France won the World Cup with 10 men” circulated widely, though it conveniently ignored the fact that Marcel Desailly had actually been sent off in the final, meaning France really did finish with ten.
Despite two consecutive Golden Boots in Division 1, UEFA Cup top scorer honours and an Intertoto Cup triumph, Guivarc’h’s reputation in France - and abroad - was overshadowed by that goalless summer. Yet those who followed more closely recognised his relentless work rate, his ability to drag defenders out of position, and his tactical discipline, all of which were vital to Aimé Jacquet’s system.
Clubs, Transfers, and the Post-World Cup Dip
Because of his visibility at the World Cup, Newcastle United moved quickly to sign Guivarc’h in November 1998 for a reported €6.5 million. Expectations were sky-high, but reality was harsh: he managed just four appearances and a single goal.
Injuries, an unfamiliar style of play, and the weight of expectations made adaptation almost impossible. Years later, he would be singled out by the Daily Mail as one of the 100 worst strikers in Premier League history.
Soon afterwards he was sold to Rangers, where he joined his former teammate Lionel Charbonnier. There he won the league, the Scottish Cup and the League Cup in 1999 - a domestic treble. But even there, injuries restricted his influence.
Returning to Auxerre later that year, he rediscovered some form with 14 Ligue 1 goals in 1999–2000, but the emergence of Djibril Cissé gradually pushed him out of the spotlight.
His final professional season came in 2001–02 back at Guingamp, but persistent knee problems curtailed his impact. He retired in 2002 at the age of 32.
Guivarc’h vs Giroud: Reconsidering the Role
Twenty years later, Olivier Giroud’s World Cup in 2018 revived the debate. Like Guivarc’h, he started every game as France’s striker. Like Guivarc’h, he didn’t score. In fact, Giroud didn’t even register a shot on target in Russia.
But Giroud was praised as essential. He created space, fought duels, pressed defenders, allowed Griezmann and Mbappé to shine. What had been derided in 1998 was hailed in 2018.
The comparison is revealing. Guivarc’h’s reputation was destroyed by his lack of goals. Giroud’s was elevated by his selfless work. Perhaps Guivarc’h was twenty years too early.
Conclusion: More Than Goals
Looking back, my memory of 1998 still lingers: sitting in front of the TV, puzzled at seeing Guivarc’h in that line-up, feeling he was out of place among the stars. But football is not only about stars.
Guivarc’h never scored at the World Cup, yet he ran, fought and occupied defenders so Zidane could write history. His career is a reminder that not every forward is judged by goals alone - and that sometimes the lesser talent, the unfashionable name, is the piece that makes the collective work.
In the end, that is why Aimé Jacquet trusted him. And why Stéphane Guivarc’h, for all the mockery, will forever be a world champion.
