April – TheRenault Laguna is restyled more than four years after its launch. An all-new model is due in the year 2000.
11 May – The firsteuro coins are minted inPessac, France. Because the final specifications for the coins were not finished in 1998, they will have to be melted and minted again in 1999.
18 June – France's World Cup quest continues in fine form with a 4–0 win overSaudi Arabia in which Thierry Henry scored twice, with the other goals coming fromDavid Trezeguet andBixente Lizarazu.
24 June – France are group winners and progress to the last 16 of the World Cup with a 2–1 win overDenmark in whichYouri Djorkaeff andEmmanuel Petit score.
28 June – An extra time goal byLaurent Blanc gives France a 1–0 win overParaguay in the last 16 of the World Cup.
3 July – France win the World Cup quarter final againstItaly on penalties after a goalless draw.
8 July – France reach the World Cup final with a semi-final win overCroatia. DefenderLilian Thuram is on the scoresheet twice in a 2–1 win.
12 July – France are football world champions for the first time ever with a 3–0 win over holdersBrazil at theStade de France.Zinedine Zidane scores twice before Emmanuel Petit's injury time goal completes the victory.
10 September –Peugeot launches the all-new206 supermini, a replacement for the long-running205. It gives Peugeot a much more modern car to rival the likes of theFord Fiesta andVolkswagen Polo.
31 December – The finalPeugeot 205 rolls off the assembly line, more than 15 years after production began. It was mostly sold only in France for the last two years of its production, having been one of Europe's best selling cars in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its replacement is the206, which has been built in France and Britain since the autumn.