1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "1998_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification".

A total of 174 teams entered the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds which began with the preliminary qualification draw on 12 December 1995 at Paris, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. This is the first time there would be 32 teams in the finals.  France, as the hosts, and  Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 30 spots open for competition.

The 32 spots available in the 1998 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

• Europe (UEFA): 15 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier France, while the other 14 places were contested by 49 teams.
• South America (CONMEBOL): 5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Brazil, while the other 4 places were contested by 9 teams.
• North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 3 places, contested by 30 teams.
• Africa (CAF): 5 places, contested by 38 teams.
• Asia (AFC): 3.5 places, contested by 36 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from OFC).
• Oceania (OFC): 0.5 place, contested by 10 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from AFC).

A total of 168 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 643 qualifying matches were played, and 1992 goals were scored (an average of 2.99 per match).

Continental zones

To see the dates and results of the qualification rounds for each continental zone, click on the following articles:

• Europe (UEFA)

Group 1 - Denmark qualified. Croatia advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.

Group 2 - England qualified. Italy advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.

Group 3 - Norway qualified. Hungary advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.

Group 4 - Austria qualified. Scotland also qualified with the best record among the runners-up.

Group 5 - Bulgaria qualified. Russia advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.

Group 6 - Spain qualified. Yugoslavia advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.

Group 7 - Netherlands qualified. Belgium advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.

Group 8 - Romania qualified. Republic of Ireland advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.

Group 9 - Germany qualified. Ukraine advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.

Play-offs - Croatia, Italy, Belgium and Yugoslavia qualified over Ukraine, Russia, Republic of Ireland and Hungary respectively.

• South America (CONMEBOL)

Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia and Chile qualified.

• North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)

Mexico, USA and Jamaica qualified.

• Africa (CAF)

Group 1 - Nigeria qualified.

Group 2 - Tunisia qualified.

Group 3 - South Africa qualified.

Group 4 - Cameroon qualified.

Group 5 - Morocco qualified.

• Asia (AFC)

Group A - Saudi Arabia qualified. Iran advanced to the AFC Play-off.

Group B - Korea Republic qualified. Japan advanced to the AFC Play-off.

Play-off - Japan qualified. Iran advanced to the AFC / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

• Oceania (OFC)

Australia advanced to the AFC / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Intercontinental Play-offs

The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

1998 FIFA World Cup AFC / OFC Intercontinental Play-off

November 22, 1997, Tehran, Iran -  Iran 1 - 1 Australia 

November 29, 1997, Melbourne, Australia -  Australia 2 - 2 Iran 

The aggregate score was tied 3-3, and Iran qualified due to the away goals rule.

Qualified teams

Qualifying countries

Team	Finals Appearance	Streak	Last Appearance
Argentina	12th	7	1994
Austria	7th	1	1990
Belgium	10th	5	1994
Brazil (c)	16th	16	1994
Bulgaria	7th	2	1994
Cameroon	4th	3	1994
Chile	7th	1	1982
Colombia	4th	3	1994
Croatia	1st	1	-
Denmark	2nd	1	1986
England	10th	1	1990
France (h)	10th	1	1986
Germany	14th(1)	12(1)	1994
Iran	2nd	1	1978
Italy	14th	10	1994
Jamaica	1st	1	-
Japan	1st	1	-
Korea Republic	5th	4	1994
Mexico	11th	2	1994
Morocco	4th	2	1994
Netherlands	7th	3	1994
Nigeria	2nd	2	1994
Norway	3rd	2	1994
Paraguay	5th	1	1986
Romania	7th	3	1994
Saudi Arabia	2nd	2	1994
Scotland	8th	1	1990
South Africa	1st	1	-
Spain	10th	6	1994
Tunisia	2nd	1	1978
United States	6th	3	1994
Yugoslavia	1st(2)	1	-(2)

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

Notes

• For the first time, the South American qualifiers were held in a single group.
• Australia had a 2-0 lead against Iran in the second leg of their play-off against Iran, but conceded two late goals and was denied a place in the finals. The result meant that Australia went undefeated in qualifying but still miss out on qualification.

External links

• FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1998 World Cup Qualification
• RSSSF - 1998 World Cup Qualification