Remembering THAT Goal – Dennis Bergkamp v Argentina, World Cup 1998

For Dutch fans, and for Gooners, it was a moment in our lifetimes.

It’s an international break, and I thought – let’s do something Arsenal-related on that theme. So I came up with the idea of writing about 10 international matches that were significant for a contribution from an Arsenal player, and I got my list together. But there was one in particular that had me thinking – I can get a whole article out of this one moment, and it was such a moment that it’s worth a book, never mind a Substack post. I talk, of course, about Dennis Bergkamp’s 89th-minute winner in the Netherlands versus Argentina World Cup Quarter Final on a Saturday afternoon in Marseille on 4th July 1998.

Let’s bathe in the memory for a moment and enjoy some Dutch commentary on a magical moment… Here’s a video to savour:

I defy you not to play that at least one more time.

There are goals, and there are goals. Some goals are elevated because of their importance. Some goals are elevated due to their quality. Once in a while, you get a combination, and these are some of football’s most replayed moments. Zinedine Zidane’s winner in the 2002 Champions League Final is another example. Sad as it is to say, Diego Maradona’s second goal against England in the 1986 World Cup Quarter Final is another. Bergkamp’s is indisputably in this league.

It wasn’t dissimilar to his hat-trick goal in the 3-3 draw at Leicester for Arsenal a few months earlier. Oh, go on then—here’s that one:

Leicester ruined the party by going and equalising, although the Gunners still went on to win the title. Bergkamp had an incredible season, and although injured at the conclusion, he regained fitness in time for the World Cup Finals.

It was fortunate that it took place in France as, by this time, the player had an absolutely strict policy of not flying. When Arsenal signed him in 1995, David Dein only found out that Dennis refused to fly after the contract was finalised, and his agent Jerome Anderson slipped it into the conversation. Two plane incidents had embedded the fear into Bergkamp, and the second was in the USA during the 1994 World Cup Finals.

But Europe was no problem with alternative ways for getting from England to the continent, and Bergkamp was able to play in all the major international tournaments until he announced his retirement from international football after Euro 2000. He would have known that the next World Cup would be in Japan and South Korea. Bergkamp was still at the peak of his powers in the next two years, but after his international retirement, the Netherlands actually failed to qualify, finishing behind Portugal and Ireland.

Before the paywall hits for my free subscribers, just a note to explain that this is a background article – these are paywalled content. Free subscribers get my post-match pieces for free, and approximately the first third of my background articles. You can read everything by becoming a paid subscriber for either £4 a month (cancel any time), and until mid-October, I am offering a reduced-price annual subscription for £30 (£40 after).