‘Glenn Hoddle is a prick. Terry Venables warned me "Hoddle will try to make a name for himself" – he said it was because of my drinking, but six other players were out until 6am’ Paul Gascoigne speaks exclusively to FourFourTwo on his 1998 World Cup snub

It will forever remain a frustration that Paul Gascoigne only featured at two major tournaments for England.

Gascoigne is ranked at ranked number two in FourFourTwo's list of the best English midfielders ever, so not seeing him at more tournaments is still one of the Three Lions' biggest regrets.

Gazza was exceptional at both Italia 90 and Euro 96, but the knee injury he suffered in the 1991 FA Cup final ruled him out of Euro 92, then England failed to qualify for USA 94, before he infamously didn't make the cut when Glenn Hoddle announced his squad for France 98.

Paul Gascoigne on his 1998 World Cup snub

Following his performances at Euro 96, it was widely expected that Gascoigne would be part of the setup for France 98. However shortly before the tournament, he'd been spotted on a night out in London with his friend Chris Evans.

At the end of the pre-tournament training camp, Gazza had a sense he wasn't going to make the final squad, and confronted Hoddle, trashing his room.

“It took me a year to get over it,” he told FourFourTwo.

“I was going through a divorce, my head wasn’t right and Glenn Hoddle is a prick. He said it was because of my drinking, but the night when I had the drink with Chris Evans, six other players were at a nightclub until 6am.

"Terry Venables had warned me, ‘Be careful, Hoddle’s going to try to make a name for himself.’ He probably did.”

Gazza admits he sensed he was going to be dropped from the squad due to the fashion that Hoddle did it in. "We had to line up like kids outside the room, so I knew,” he recalled, speaking in an exclusive interview for FourFourTwo magazine, to coincide with the launch of his new book Eight.

“Hoddle’s a prick anyway – he’s a f**king dick.”

Gazza feared it could the beginning of the end of his England career and he was right – he never played for his country again.

The 1998 World Cup from an English perspective was a rollercoaster. From Gascoigne's omission, to bringing faith healer Eileen Drewery into the camp, then the infamous David Beckham red card against Argentina, it's a tournament that went down in the history books.