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1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

{{Infobox international football competition

| tourney_name = 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

| year =

| alt =

| caption =

| host countries =

| dates = {{nowrap|10 March 1996 – 29 November 1997}}

| num_teams = 174

| confederations = 6

| matches = 643

| goals = 1922

| attendance =

| top_scorer = {{flagicon|IRN}} Karim Bagheri
(19 goals)

| prevseason = 1994

| nextseason = 2002

}}

The 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe) — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. 174 teams entered the qualification rounds, while two places were reserved for France and Brazil as host nation and defending champions, respectively.

Qualified teams

File:1998 world cup qualification.png

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: left;"
Team

! Method of
qualification

! Date of
qualification

! Finals
appearance

! Last
appearance

! Consecutive
finals
appearances

! Previous best
performance

! FIFA ranking
at start of event{{cite web|title=FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking (20 May 1998)|url=https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/rank=50/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222025820/http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/rank=50/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 22, 2016|work=FIFA.com |publisher=Fédération Internationale de Football Association |date=27 January 2012}}

{{fb|FRA|1974}}Host2 July 199210th19861Third place (1958, 1986)18
{{fb|BRA}}1994 FIFA World Cup winners17 July 199416th199416Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994)1
{{fb|NGA}}CAF final round group 1 winners7 June 19972nd19942Round of 16 (1994)74
{{fb|TUN|1959}}CAF final round group 2 winners8 June 19972nd19781Group stage (1978)21
{{fb|MAR}}CAF final round group 5 winners8 June 19974th19942Round of 16 (1986)13
{{fb|RSA}}CAF final round group 3 winners16 August 19971st—1—24
{{fb|CMR}}CAF final round group 4 winners17 August 19974th19943Quarter-finals (1990)49
{{fb|ROU}}UEFA group 8 winners18 August 19977th19943Quarter-finals (1994)22
{{fb|NOR}}UEFA group 3 winners6 September 19973rd19942*First round (1938, 1994)7
{{fb|BUL}}UEFA group 5 winners10 September 19977th19942Fourth place (1994)35
{{fb|ARG}}CONMEBOL winners10 September 199712th19947Winners (1978, 1986)6
{{fb|COL}}CONMEBOL 3rd place10 September 19974th19943Round of 16 (1990)10
{{fb|PAR|1990}}CONMEBOL 2nd place10 September 19975th19861Round of 16 (1986)29
{{fb|DEN}}UEFA group 1 winners11 October 19972nd19861Round of 16 (1986)27
{{fb|ENG}}UEFA group 2 winners11 October 199710th19901Winners (1966)5
{{fb|AUT}}UEFA group 4 winners11 October 19977th19901Third place (1954)31
{{fb|ESP}}UEFA group 6 winners11 October 199710th19946Fourth place (1950)15
{{fb|NED}}UEFA group 7 winners11 October 19977th19943Runners-up (1974, 1978)25
{{fb|GER}}UEFA group 9 winners11 October 199714th199412Winners (1954, 1974, 1990)2
{{fb|SCO}}UEFA group 4 runners-up11 October 19978th19901Group stage (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990)41
{{fb|MEX}}CONCACAF fourth round winners12 October 199711th19942Quarter-finals (1970, 1986)4
{{fb|KOR|1997}}AFC final round group B winners18 October 19975th19944Group stage (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994)20
{{fb|USA}}CONCACAF fourth round 2nd place9 November 19976th19943Third place (1930)11
{{fb|KSA}}AFC final round group A winners12 November 19972nd19942Round of 16 (1994)34
{{fb|CRO}}UEFA play-off winners15 November 19971st—1—19
{{fb|ITA}}UEFA play-off winners15 November 199714th199410Winners (1934, 1938, 1982)14
{{fb|BEL}}UEFA play-off winners15 November 199710th19945Fourth place (1986)36
{{fb|Federal Republic of Yugoslavia}}UEFA play-off winners15 November 19979th19901Fourth place (1930, 1962)8
{{fb|JPN|1870}}AFC play-off winners16 November 19971st—1—12
{{fb|JAM}}CONCACAF fourth round 3rd place16 November 19971st—1—30
{{fb|CHI}}CONMEBOL 4th place16 November 19977th19821Third place (1962)9
{{fb|IRN}}AFC v OFC play-off winners29 November 19972nd19781Group stage (1978)42

  • Norway was eliminated from the group stage of the 1994 World Cup, while they exited the 1938 tournament in the first round of what was then a pure knockout tournament.

Qualification process

The distribution by confederation for the 1998 FIFA World Cup was:

  • AFC (Asia): 3 or 4 places
  • CAF (Africa): 5 places
  • CONCACAF (North America): 3 places
  • CONMEBOL (South America): 4 places (+ Brazil qualified automatically as 1994 FIFA World Cup winners for a total of 5 places)
  • OFC (Oceania): 0 or 1 place(s)
  • UEFA (Europe): 14 places (+ France qualified automatically as host nation for a total of 15 places)

Confederation qualification

=AFC=

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)}}

A total of 36 teams entered the competition. The Asian zone was allocated 3.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament.

There were three rounds of play:

  • First round: The 36 teams were divided into 10 groups of 3 or 4 teams each. The teams played against each other twice, except in Group 10, where the teams played against each other once. The group winners would advance to the final round.
  • Final round: The 10 teams were divided into 2 groups of 5 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. The runners-up would advance to the AFC play-off.
  • Play-off: The two teams played against each other once in Malaysia. The winner would qualify. The loser would advance to the AFC–OFC intercontinental play-offs.

class="wikitable"
Legend
bgcolor=#ccffcc

|Countries that qualified for the 1998 World Cup

bgcolor=#BBF3FF

|Countries that advanced to the Play-off for third place

==Final positions (final Round)==

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)#Final round}}

Group A

!Group B

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
style="width:165px; text-align:left;"|Team

!width=20|Pld

!width=20|Pts

style="background:#CCFFCC;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|KSA}}

|8

14
style="background:#BBF3FF;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|IRN}}

|8

12
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|CHN}}

|8

11
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|QAT}}

|8

10
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|KUW}}

|8

8

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
style="width:165px; text-align:left;"|Team

!width=20|Pld

!width=20|Pts

style="background:#CCFFCC;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|KOR|1997}}

|8

19
style="background:#BBF3FF;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|JPN|1870}}

|8

13
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|UAE}}

|8

9
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|UZB}}

|8

6
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|KAZ}}

|8

6

|}

==Play-off for 3rd place==

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)#Play-off}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
style="width:265px; text-align:right;"|Team 1

!width=100|Score

! style="width:265px; text-align:left;"|Team 2

style="text-align:right;"|{{fb-rt|IRN}}

|2–3 (a.e.t.)

! style="width:265px; text-align:left;"|{{fb|JPN|1870}}

=CAF=

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)}}

A total of 38 CAF teams entered the competition. However, Mali and Niger both withdrew before the draw was made. The African Zone was allocated five places (out of 32) in the final tournament.

There would be two rounds of play:

  • First round: Cameroon, Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt, the four highest-ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the final round directly. The remaining 32 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the final round.
  • Final round: The 20 teams were divided into five groups of four teams each. The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

class="wikitable"
Legend
bgcolor=#ccffcc

|Countries that qualified for the 1998 World Cup

==Final positions (final round)==

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)#Final round}}

style="text-align:center;"
valign=top

!Group 1

!Group 2

!Group 3

valign=top

|

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

width=180 style="text-align:left;"|Team

!width=20|Pld

!width=20|Pts

style="background:#ccffcc;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|NGA}}

|6

13
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|GUI}}

|6

12
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|KEN}}

|6

10
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|BFA}}

|6

0

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
width=180 style="text-align:left;"|Team

!width=20|Pld

!width=20|Pts

style="background:#ccffcc;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|TUN|1959}}

|6

16
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|EGY}}

|6

10
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|LBR}}

|6

4
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|NAM}}

|6

4

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
width=180 style="text-align:left;"|Team

!width=20|Pld

!width=20|Pts

style="background:#ccffcc;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|RSA}}

|6

13
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|CGO}}

|6

10
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|ZAM}}

|6

8
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|COD|1997}}

|6

2

|-

!Group 4

!Group 5

|-valign=top

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
width=180 style="text-align:left;"|Team

!width=20|Pld

!width=20|Pts

style="background:#ccffcc;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|CMR}}

|6

14
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|ANG}}

|6

10
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|ZIM}}

|6

4
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|TOG}}

|6

4

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
width=180 style="text-align:left;"|Team

!width=20|Pld

!width=20|Pts

style="background:#ccffcc;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|MAR}}

|6

16
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|SLE}}

|5

7
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|GHA}}

|6

6
style="text-align:left;"|{{Fb|GAB}}

|5

1

|}

=CONCACAF=

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)}}

File:1997 USA v Mexico - John Harkes (3898356480).jpg playing for the United States in a fourth round qualifying match against Mexico on April 20, 1997]]

A total of 30 CONCACAF teams entered the competition. Mexico, the US, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Canada, the six highest-ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the third round directly. The remaining 24 teams were divided into two zones, based on geographical locations, as follows:

  • Caribbean Zone: The 20 teams played in three rounds of knockout matches on a home-and-away basis to determine four winners advancing to the third round.
  • Central American Zone: The four teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the third round.

In the third round, the 12 teams were divided into three groups of four teams each. They played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners and runners-up would advance to the final round.

In the final round, the six teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The top three teams would qualify.

class="wikitable"
Legend
bgcolor=#ccffcc

|Countries that qualified for the 1998 World Cup

==Final positions (fourth round)==

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF fourth round}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
width=165|Team

!width=20|Pld

!width=20|Pts

bgcolor="#ccffcc"

|align="left"|{{Fb|MEX}}

|10

18
bgcolor="#ccffcc"

|align="left"|{{Fb|USA}}

|10

17
bgcolor="#ccffcc"

|align="left"|{{Fb|JAM}}

|10

14
align="left"|{{Fb|CRC}}

|10

12
align="left"|{{Fb|SLV}}

|10

10
align="left"|{{Fb|CAN}}

|10

6

=CONMEBOL=

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)}}

A total of 10 CONMEBOL teams entered the competition. The South American zone was allocated 5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament. Brazil, the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 4 spots open for competition between 9 teams.

The rules were very simple. The 9 teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The top 4 teams would qualify.

class="wikitable"
Legend
bgcolor=#ccffcc

|Countries that qualified for the 1998 World Cup

==Final positions==

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
width=165 style="text-align:left;"|Team

!width=25|Pld

!width=25|Pts

style="background:#ccffcc;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|ARG}}

|16

30
style="background:#ccffcc;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|PAR|1990}}

|16

29
style="background:#ccffcc;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|COL}}

|16

28
style="background:#ccffcc;"

|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|CHI}}

|16

25
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|PER}}

|16

25
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|ECU|1900}}

|16

21
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|URU}}

|16

21
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|BOL}}

|16

17
style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|VEN|1930}}

|16

3

=OFC=

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)}}

A total of 10 teams entered the competition. The Oceanian zone was allocated 0.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament.

There were three rounds of play:

  • First round: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tahiti, the four best ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the second round directly. The remaining 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each, namely the Melanesian Group and the Polynesian Group, based on geographical considerations. The teams played against each other once. The winner of the Melanesian Group would advance to the second round. The runner-up of the Melanesian Group and the winner of the Polynesian Group would advance to the first round play-off. In the play-off, they played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the second round.
  • Second round: The 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other twice. The group winners would advance to the final round.
  • Final round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the AFC / OFC intercontinental play-off.

==Final positions (third round)==

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)#Final round}}

{{TwoLegStart}}

{{TwoLegResult|{{fb-rt|NZL}}||0–5|{{fb|AUS}}||0–3|0–2}}

|}

=UEFA=

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)}}

A total of 50 UEFA teams entered the competition. The European zone was allocated 15 places (out of 32) in the final tournament. France, the hosts, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition between 49 teams.

The 49 teams were divided into nine groups, four groups of six teams and five groups of five teams. The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. The runners-up would be ranked according to their records against the 1st, 3rd and 4th-placed team in their groups, and the team with the best record would also qualify. The remaining runners-up would advance to the UEFA Play-offs.

In the play-offs, the 8 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would qualify.

class="wikitable"
Legend
bgcolor=#ccffcc

|Countries that qualified for the 1998 World Cup

bgcolor=#BBF3FF

|Countries that advanced to the Play-offs

==Final positions (first round)==

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)#First round}}

{{col-begin|width=auto}}

{{col-break}}

{{:1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 1|title=Group 1|only_pld_pts=y|show_matches=n|show_positions=n}}

{{col-break|gap=1em}}

{{:1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2|title=Group 2|only_pld_pts=y|show_matches=n|show_positions=n}}

{{col-break|gap=1em}}

{{:1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 3|title=Group 3|only_pld_pts=y|show_matches=n|show_positions=n}}

{{col-end}}

{{col-begin|width=auto}}

{{col-break}}

{{:1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4|title=Group 4|only_pld_pts=y|show_matches=n|show_positions=n}}

{{col-break|gap=1em}}

{{:1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 5|title=Group 5|only_pld_pts=y|show_matches=n|show_positions=n}}

{{col-break|gap=1em}}

{{:1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 6|title=Group 6|only_pld_pts=y|show_matches=n|show_positions=n}}

{{col-end}}

{{col-begin|width=auto}}

{{col-break}}

{{:1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 7|title=Group 7|only_pld_pts=y|show_matches=n|show_positions=n}}

{{col-break|gap=1em}}

{{:1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 8|title=Group 8|only_pld_pts=y|show_matches=n|show_positions=n}}

{{col-break|gap=1em}}

{{:1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 9|title=Group 9|only_pld_pts=y|show_matches=n|show_positions=n}}

{{col-end}}

==Play-offs==

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA play-off)}}

{{TwoLegStart}}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|CRO}} | |3–1| {{fb|UKR|1992}}| |2–0|1–1}}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|RUS}} | |1–2| {{fb|ITA}}| |1–1|0–1}}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|IRL}} | |2–3| {{fb|BEL}}| |1–1|1–2}}{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|HUN}} | |1–12| {{fb|FR Yugoslavia}}| | 1–7|0–5}}

|}

Inter-confederation play-offs: AFC v OFC

{{main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC–OFC play-off)}}

It was a two-legged home-and-away tie between the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament, Australia, and the losing team in the AFC play-off from the Asian qualifying tournament, Iran. The games were played on 22 and 29 November 1997 in Tehran and Melbourne respectively. Australia was hoping to play in the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1974 and Iran in 1978. The second game is known in Iran as the Saga of Melbourne.

{{TwoLegStart}}

{{TwoLegResult|{{fb-rt|IRN}}|| 3–3 (a) |{{fb|AUS}}||1–1|2–2}}

{{TwoLeg end}}

Top goalscorers

;19 goals

;14 goals

;12 goals

;11 goals

;6 goals

References

External links

{{commons category}}

  • [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/pwc/q/1998.html FIFA World Cup official site - 1998 World Cup qualification] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320044623/http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/pwc/q/1998.html |date=2007-03-20 }}
  • [https://www.rsssf.org/tables/98q.html RSSSF - 1998 World Cup Qualification]

{{1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers}}

{{FIFA World Cup qualification}}

Qualification

Category:FIFA World Cup qualification