Football World Cup 2002

The 2002 FIFA World Cup started with a shock 1–0 defeat of defending champions France, playing without the injured Zinedine Zidane, by tournament newcomers Senegal in the tournament's opening match held in Seoul, Korea. In their second Group A game, France were held to a goalless draw by Uruguay after star striker Thierry Henry was sent off. A 2–0 defeat by Denmark in their last group game sealed France's fate.

The world champions went out of the Cup without even managing to score a goal and earned the unwanted record of the worst World Cup performance by a defending champion since 1934 (when Uruguay refused to defend the title). An impressive Denmark won the group, joined by Senegal to move on to the next round. Senegal drew with Denmark and Uruguay to clinch its place in the second round.

Despite coming back from 3–0 down to draw with Senegal in their last group game, the South Americans couldn't find the fourth goal that would have kept them in the Cup and thus were out of the tournament.

On the same day when the two strongest teams in the world played in the 2002 Final in Japan, a specially-arranged match between Bhutan and Montserrat - the two weakest teams in the world, was played in Bhutan. Montserrat, ranked 203rd, and Bhutan, ranked 202nd, were the lowest ranked countries in the world. It took the players five days for the trip from the Caribbean island of Montserrat to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Bhutan won 'The Other Final' on 30 June 2002, 4-0 in front of a crowd of 15,000 which was more than double the population of Montserrat. After the match, the players got together and watched the 'real' World Cup final on television.