They say you never forget your first FIFA World Cup.
Not necessarily the earliest one you were alive for, but the one where you really paid attention to the biggest sporting event on the planet.
There are a few things I remember vividly about France '98.
Witnessing Michael Owen's glorious goal against Argentina — but totally missing the equaliser when the TV inexplicably powered off at the precise moment Juan Sebastián Verón cleverly slid through a free kick to Javier Zanetti to make it 2-2.
Then seeing David Beckham become a national pariah when he was sent off for petulantly kicking out at Diego Simeone.
I recall our family ordering Pizza Hut before the final, and waking up in the middle of the night to eat it while watching (the original) Ronaldo fulfil his destiny...
...only to see him upstaged by a rampant Zinedine Zidane at Stade de France.
There have been six World Cups since that famous French victory (and I've only seen the All Whites play at one of those!).
But that's the World Cup that I'll forever associate as being the ultimate edition.
With 100 days to go until the 2026 tournament kicks off, we asked the current crop of All Whites their first and favourite World Cup memories.
Chris Wood - South Korea & Japan 2002
"The 2002 one [was] a big one, it was the first one I could properly understand. I was probably 11 years old at the time, it was one that just sticks out in the memory. R9's [Ronaldo's] famous goal and things like that.
"I was just loving watching football, that Brazil team was pretty special."
Sarpreet Singh - South Africa, 2010
"I think the 2010 World cup, especially the qualifying game [against Bahrain]... I was 11.
"The whole event being in South Africa, I remember seeing videos and highlights of different games. Being able to watch those games live. The vuvuzela, we had Shakira doing Waka Waka..."
Joe Bell - South Africa, 2010
"A huge part of me wants to say Winnie's [Reid's] header, but one of my favourite memories that sticks out really vividly was the first goal that South Africa scored at the World Cup as the host nation. It was a crazy goal but just to see the fans and the atmosphere was fantastic.
"I remember it being chaos and I remember they had the team celebration after he scored as well, it was just a fantastic moment and ecstasy for the fans."
Elijah Just - Germany, 2006
"I know that my Mum has a photo of me watching the 2006 World Cup. I actually think there was someone from my school who won a draw and got to walk out on the pitch as a mascot.
"Pretty crazy moment that [Zinedine Zidane] headbutted someone in the middle of the [final] game.""
Finn Surman - Brazil, 2014
"The most vivid memory was of the final, I remember I was down in Dunedin for something and we were at some motel or campervan place. The TV in the common room had the World Cup final [on]. I remember seeing Mario Götze score the winner late in extra time."
Michael Boxall - France, 1998
"The 1998 World Cup in France, the original Ronaldo, I think that's when I enjoyed watching him and his flair. I was pretty gutted when they lost 3-0 in the final.
"I think up until the final being Ronaldo's World Cup, growing up in New Zealand you don't get a lot of European football on the tele on the three or four channels we had back then. So yeah, that was the most football I'd ever seen live on TV and then just kind of tracked it along there, kept a bunch of clippings from the newspaper. That was when I first got into football properly."
All New Zealand games at the FIFA World Cup will be available to watch live and free from home on TVNZ+ and TVNZ1.
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