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1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

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.

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
Tournament details
Dates10 March 1996 – 29 November 1997
Teams174 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played644
Goals scored1,925 (2.99 per match)
Top scorer(s)Iran Karim Bagheri
(19 goals)
← 1994
2002 →

Qualified teams

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  Country qualified for World Cup
  Country failed to qualify
  Country did not enter World Cup
  Country not a FIFA member
  • 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

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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

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AFC

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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.
  • Second 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.
  • Third round: 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.

Final positions (second round)

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Legend
Countries that qualified for the 1998 World Cup
Countries that advanced to the third round
Group A Group B
Team Pld Pts
 Saudi Arabia 814
 Iran 812
 China 811
 Qatar 810
 Kuwait 88
Team Pld Pts
 South Korea 819
 Japan 813
 United Arab Emirates 89
 Uzbekistan 86
 Kazakhstan 86

Third round

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CAF

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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.
Legend
Countries that qualified for the 1998 World Cup

Final positions (final round)

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Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Team Pld Pts
 Nigeria 613
 Guinea 612
 Kenya 610
 Burkina Faso 60
Team Pld Pts
 Tunisia 616
 Egypt 610
 Liberia 64
 Namibia 64
Team Pld Pts
 South Africa 613
 Congo 610
 Zambia 68
 DR Congo 62
Group 4 Group 5
Team Pld Pts
 Cameroon 614
 Angola 610
 Zimbabwe 64
 Togo 64
Team Pld Pts
 Morocco 616
 Sierra Leone 57
 Ghana 66
 Gabon 51

CONCACAF

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John Harkes 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.

Legend
Countries that qualified for the 1998 World Cup

Final positions (fourth round)

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Team Pld Pts
 Mexico 1018
 United States 1017
 Jamaica 1014
 Costa Rica 1012
 El Salvador 1010
 Canada 106

CONMEBOL

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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.

Legend
Countries that qualified for the 1998 World Cup

Final positions

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Team Pld Pts
 Argentina 1630
 Paraguay 1629
 Colombia 1628
 Chile 1625
 Peru 1625
 Ecuador 1621
 Uruguay 1621
 Bolivia 1617
 Venezuela 163

OFC

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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)

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
New Zealand  0–5  Australia 0–3 0–2

UEFA

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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.

Legend
Countries that qualified for the 1998 World Cup
Countries that advanced to the Play-offs

Final positions (first round)

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Play-offs

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Croatia  3–1  Ukraine 2–0 1–1
Russia  1–2  Italy 1–1 0–1
Republic of Ireland  2–3  Belgium 1–1 1–2
Hungary  1–12  FR Yugoslavia 1–7 0–5

Inter-confederation play-offs: AFC v OFC

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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.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Iran  3–3 (a)  Australia 1–1 2–2

Top goalscorers

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References

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  1. ↑ "FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking (20 May 1998)". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 27 January 2012. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 1998, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
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