The England squad of 22 was David Seaman, Nigel Martyn, Tim Flowers, Sol Campbell, Tony Adams, Gareth Southgate, Graeme Le Saux, Martin Keown, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, David Beckham, Darren Anderton, Paul Ince, David Batty, Paul Scholes, Rob Lee, Steve McManaman, Paul Merson, Teddy Sheringham, Michael Owen, Alan Shearer (captain), Les Ferdinand

The major news before the tournament began was that the England manager at the time, Glen Hoddle, left Paul Gascoigne out of the squad for loss of form and going on heavy drinking sessions even though he had played a part in England's qualification for the finals.
 

The results in the England's group G were:

England 2 (Shearer 42, Scholes 90), Tunisia 0
Romania 1 Columbia 0
Columbia 1 Tunisia 0
Romania 2 (Moldovan 47, Petrescu 90) England 1 (Owen 83)
Columbia 0 England 2 (Anderton 20, Beckham 30)                                                                      
Romania 1 Tunisia 1     

With 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw, England came second in their group with 6 points behind Romania who had 7 points. Columbia did not qualify for the next stage on 3 points, and Tunisia came 4th with 1 point.

The England team against Tunisia was David Seaman, Sol Campbell, Tony Adams, Gareth Southgate, Graeme Le Saux, Darren Anderton, Paul Ince, David Batty, Paul Scholes, Teddy Sheringham (Michael Owen 85), Alan Shearer

In the game against Tunisia, Teddy Sheringham and captain Alan Shearer started up front with Michael Owen on the bench. Darren Anderton was also preferred to David Beckham in the starting line up. England started the game cautiously but soon but the Tunisian goalkeeper was soon having to make good saves from Scholes and Sheringham. In the 42nd minute, England did score - Le Saux took a free kick and Shearer headed it accurately against the inside of the post and in. In the second half Scholes was playing well and had a few more chances and in the 90th minute he scored with a great shot from the edge of the penalty box.

The England team against Romania was David Seaman, Sol Campbell, Tony Adams, Gary Neville, Graeme Le Saux, Darren Anderton, Paul Ince (David Beckham 33), David Batty, Paul Scholes, Teddy Sheringham (Michael Owen 73), Alan Shearer

Le Saux has his head in his hands after Petrescu scores to make it 2-1 to Romania

In the game against Romania, Romania played well in the first half but their strikes were off target. After 33 minutes, Beckham came on for the injured Ince and England started to play a little better up to the break. Soon after the second half began, however, Romania scored - Hagi passed the ball to Moldovan through the England defence and he scored from just outside the six yard box. Owen came on for Sheringham after 73 minutes and ten minutes later he scored, putting a good pass from Scholes into the net from inside the penalty area.  In the last minute of the game, however, Petrescu held off Le Saux when clear and scored to give Romania the win.

The England team against Columbia was David Seaman, Sol Campbell, Tony Adams, Gary Neville, Graeme Le Saux, Darren Anderton (Rob Lee 80), Paul Ince (David Batty 83), David Beckham, Paul Scholes (Steve McManaman 74), Michael Owen, Alan Shearer

Against Columbia, England bounced back and had a very good performance, winning 2-0. After doing well in the last game, both Beckham and Owen started. In the 20th minute Anderton put the ball into the corner of the Columbian net after an Owen cross. In the 30th minute, Ince was fouled 25 yards from the Columbian goal but Beckham still managed to blast the ball into the net from the resulting free kick. England had many more chances too in the rest of the game and never looked like losing the lead they had.   

The other group's in the first phase finished as (teams in bold went through):

Group A
Brazil 6 points (won 2, drew 0, lost 1) - beat Scotland 2-1, Morocco 3-0
Norway 5 points (won 1, drew 2) - beat Brazil 2-1, drew with Morocco 2-2 and Scotland 1-1
Morocco 4 points (won 1, lost 1, lost 1) - beat Scotland 3-0, drew with Norway 2-2
Scotland 1 point (drew 1) - drew with Norway 1-1

Group B
Italy 7 points (won 2, drew 1) - beat Cameroon 3-0 and Austria 2-1, drew with Chile 2-2
Chile 3 points (drew 3)- drew with Italy 2-2, Austria 1-1 and Cameroon 1-1
Austria 2 points (drew 2, lost 1)- drew with Cameroon 1-1 and Chile 1-1
Cameroon 2 points (drew 2, lost1 ) - drew with Austria 1-1 and Chile 1-1

Group C
France 9 points (won 3) - beat S Africa 3-0, S Arabia 4-0 and Denmark 2-1
Denmark 4 points (won 1, drew 1, lost 1) - beat S Arabia 1-0 and drew with S Africa 1-1
South Africa 2 points (drew 2, lost 1) -  drew with Denmark 1-1 and S Arabia 2-2
Saudi Arabia 1 point (drew 1, lost 2) - drew with S Africa 2-2

Group D
Nigeria 6 points (won 2, lost 1) - beat Spain 3-2, Bulgaria 1-0 
Paraguay 5 points (won 1, drew 2) - beat Nigeria 3-1, drew with Bulgaria 0-0 and Spain 0-0
Spain 4 points (won 1, drew 1, lost 1) - beat Bulgaria 6-1, drew with Paraguay 0-0
Bulgaria 1 point (drew 1, lost 2) - drew with Paraguay 0-0

Group E
Holland 5 points (won 1, drew 2) - beat S Korea 5-0, drew Belgium 0-0 and Mexico 2-2
Mexico 5 points (won 1, drew 2) - beat S Korea 3-1, drew Belgium 2-2 and Holland 2-2
Belgium 3 points ( drew 3) - drew Holland 0-0, Mexico 2-2 and S Korea 1-1
S Korea 1 point (drew 1, lost 2) drew with Belgium 1-1

Group F
Germany 7 points (won 2, drew 1) - beat USA 2-0, Iran 2-0, drew with Yugoslavia 2-2
Yugoslavia 7 points (won 2, drew 1) - beat Iran 1-0, USA 1-0, drew with Germany 2-2 
Iran 3 points (won 1, lost 2) - beat USA 2-1
USA 0 points (lost 3)

Group H
Argentina 9 points (won 3) - beat Japan 1-0, Jamaica 5-0 and Croatia 1-0
Croatia 6 points (won 2, lost 1) - beat Jamaica 3-1 and Japan 1-0
Jamaica 3 points (won 1, lost 2) - beat Japan 2-1
Japan 0 points (lost 3)
 

At the end of the first phase France and Argentina looked especially strong winning all their group games.

In the second phase the results were:
Italy 1 Norway 1
Brazil 4 Chile 1
France 1 Paraguay 0
Nigeria 1 Denmark 4
Germany 2 Mexico 1
Holland 2 Yugoslavia 1
Romania 0 Croatia 1
Argentina 2 (Batistuta 5, Zanetti 45) England 2 (Shearer pen 10, Owen 16)
                                                                   -Argentina won 4-3 on penalties
 

                            
Owen celebrates his goal with Beckham               Beckham is sent off in the second half

The England team against Argentina was David Seaman, Sol Campbell, Tony Adams, Gary Neville, Graeme Le Saux (Gareth Southgate 71), Darren Anderton (David Batty 97), Paul Ince, David Beckham, Paul Scholes (Paul Merson 79), Michael Owen, Alan Shearer

The Argentinian team was Roa, Ayala, Chamot, Zanetti, Almeyda, Simeone (Berti 91), Ortega, Veron, Lopez (Gallardo 69), Batistuta (Crespo 69)

England played Argentina in the second round and had the worst possible start - David Seaman brought down Simeone in the box, who had broken free but had perhaps hit the ball too far in front of him towards the line for a goal kick. He fell over David Seaman's outstretched arm on the ground and a penalty was given - Batistuta took the penalty for Argentina and scored. After ten minutes, however, England were level when Owen went down in Argentina's box under challenge from Ayala and Shearer scored the resulting penalty. After 16 minutes Owen scored one of the great World Cup goals - he got a pass from Scholes and took on the Argentinian defence, passing Chamot and Ayala with his speed and running diagonally to his right and towards goal - he then struck the ball hard from 14 yards past the Argentinian goalkeeper and into the net to make it 2-1 to England. Just before half time, Argentina made it 2-2. Lopez was fouled by Campbell - from the free kick, Veron passed to Zanetti who scored.

Just after the break Simeone clashed into Beckham - Simeone was standing but Beckham was on the ground - Beckham lashed out with his foot and the referee (Nielson) saw it - it was a bit harsh but Beckham received a straight red card and was sent off. With ten men left England defended admirably and after 81 minutes, Campbell put the ball in the back of the Argentinan net from an Anderton corner - unfortunately it was disallowed for a debateable Shearer foul. There were more chances for both sides and both teams had penalty appeals but at the end of extra time it was still 2-2.

In the penalty shootout, Berti scored (England 0, Argentina 1), Shearer scored (1-1), Crespo missed, Ince missed, Veron scored (1-2), Merson scored (2-2), Gallardo scored (2-3), Owen scored (3-3), Ayala scored (3-4), Batty missed and Argentina had won. 

In the quarter finals the results were:
Italy 0 France 0 (after extra time - France won 4-3 on penalties)
Brazil 3 Denmark 2
Holland 2 Argentina 1
Germany 0 Croatia 3

In the semi finals, Brazil drew with Holland 1-1 but won 4-2 on penalties while France beat Croatia by 2 goals to 1.

In the third place play off Croatia beat Holland 2-1. In the final itself, France beat Brazil 3-0 with 2 goals from Zidane and one from Petit at the end of the game - French player Desailly was sent off in the match after 75 minutes but it will be remembered for an ill Brazilian striker Ronaldo playing and having a quiet game.