FIFA - Road to World Cup 98
Indoor matches returned, but not for long. This installment is notable for being the year that FIFA finally caught up with Sensible Soccer by allowing players to build their own teams and players, with individual skill stats. This stayed, with a few non-appearances here and there.

FIFA 99
Incredibly smooth and flowing on PSone (comparatively, of course), FIFA 99 dropped the indoor mode (which no one ever played anyway) but added some facial animations for the players. Of course, the N64 and PC versions looked best and analog control was well implemented. There was also a European Super League.

Above: FIFA 99 was starting to look like the FIFA we know today. Just look at their faces

FIFA 2000
A Madden NFL -style button command system was used for precise set-piece control and a colored passing indicator was added to let the player know whether a pass was likely to be intercepted or not. The latter worked really well and didn't disappear straight away. Player detail was also improved with (and we quote) "varied heights, 3D-sculpted faces and detailed facial animations." Varied heights, eh? That's progress.