 In the previous World Cup in 1998, Brazil had made it to the finals but then lost 3–0 to the host nation France.In an interview, Brazilian midfielder Juninho Paulista stated that both the team and the people in Brazil were both somewhat pessimistic about the upcoming World Cup squad due to the loss to France.Following the 1998 loss, the team hired a new head coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, following tenures by Vanderlei Luxemburgo (whose contract was terminated after elimination at the quarter finals of the football tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics) and Emerson Leão (who experienced a short, disastrous stint, in which the underpowered Brazilian team risked not getting through the qualifiers).