The gold and green of Brazil, the various shades of blue of Italy, Argentina and Uruguay, the white of West Germany and the red of England have all left their indelible mark on soccer's biggest canvas over the years.

But the country who produced far-sighted administrators like Jules Rimet and Henri Delauney, guiding lights in the creation of both Fifa and the World Cup, had never left a major imprint on the competition themselves.

France's 3-0 victory over Brazil has changed all that. This last World Cup before the millennium was bigger with 32 teams, longer at 34 days and more colourful than any staged in the event's 68-year history, and was rightly bathed in red, white and blue after the hosts' emphatic triumph in last night's final.

The tournament was also almost deluged by a wave of yellow and red cards in the wake of a crackdown on violenttackles.

A record 22 players were sent off and 250 booked in 64 matches and there were conflicting messages from Fifa throughout the competition about the competence, standard and interpretation of the laws by their referees.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter, elected just before the final begun, has called for professional referees and world soccer's governing body needs to iron out refereeing inconsistencies.

For, while there is much to applaud in killing off the tackle from behind, too often referees appeared to be conned by play-acting and players feigning injury.

With so many matches at this level being so finely balanced, a dismissal can have a dramatic impact, and should not be perceived to be the first option for a referee, no matter how injured a player initially appears to be.Exaggerated theatricality earned Frenchman Laurent Blanc a red card against Croatia in the semi-final and a suspension from the final.

Argentina defeated England 4-3 on penalties in the second round but the balance of amatch that could have been an all-time classic changed dramatically after England's David Beckham was controversially sent off just after half-time.

Germany were crushed 3-0 by a rampant Croatia who grew in confidence and scored all three goals after German defender Christian Woerns was sent off in the first half.

For the Germans that marked the end of the road for veterans like Juergen Klinsmann and Lothar Matthaeus, survivors of their 1990 World Cup-winning team.

Croatia though enjoyed a hugely successful World Cup, narrowly beaten 2-1 by eventual champions France in the semi-final and finishing third after a 2-1 win over the Dutch in the play-off.

Another consolation was their striker Davor Suker finishing as the tournament's top scorer with six goals.

Besides Croatia, Jamaica, South Africa and Japan were also playing in their first World Cup and all made suitably dramatic, and colourful, impacts.Jamaica's yellow-and-green, worn seemingly by every single man, woman and child supporting them,helped bring an astonishing atmosphere to the stadiums in Lens, Paris and Lyon and although they went home after the first round, they were delighted at scoring their first win, a 2-1 victory over Japan.

The Japanese failed to win a match, but at least score their first World Cup goal and took plenty of knowledge home with them which will be invaluable when they co-host the 2002 World Cup with South Korea.

South Africa, also hoping to stage the World Cup in 2006, were outplayed by France in their opener, but fought back to draw with Denmark and Saudi Arabia before exiting.

For the first time five African teams took part with the men in the vivid green shirts of Nigeria striking an early blow for their continent with a sensational 3-2 first round win over Spain. But they were thumped 4-1 by Denmark in the second round.

Spain's first round exit was a major shock and not even their record World Cup victory of 6-1 over Bulgaria in their final group match could save them.

No one match in the competitionrivalled Romania's thrilling 3-2 victory over Argentina in 1994. But Brazil's 4-1 second round win over Chile, Argentina's penalty shoot-out victory over England, Brazil's 3-2 quarter-final win over Denmark and The Netherlands' 2-1 quarter-final win over Argentina will all live long in the memory.

Of course, for the French, they all pale into insignificance beside the 3-0 final victory over Brazil, a truly golden moment in the nation's long sporting history.