| top_scorer = Predrag Mijatović(14 goals) | prevseason = 1994 | nextseason = 2002
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone (UEFA).
A total of 50 UEFA teams entered the competition; Andorra, which joined FIFA and UEFA in November 1996 while the qualifiers were underway, could not enter. 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 other 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.
First round First round was group play. The draw was made on 12 December 1995, and was based on the November 1995 FIFA World Rankings.
Seeding The teams were divided into five pools as shown in table below (November 1995 rankings shown in brackets).
+ Pot 1 Team 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 11 12+ Pot 2 Team 14 15 16 18 20 21 25 26 29+ Pot 3 Team 31 33 35 38 39 40 41 45 46+ Pot 4 Team 48 54 57 60 70 71 75 77 80+ Pot 5 Team 87 88 89 90 98 107 112 116 126 136 142 151 NR
Summary
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Group 9
Ranking of second-placed teams As some groups had six teams and others had five, the matches vs the fifth and sixth place teams were discarded for the purposes of the ranking, though discarding results against the sixth placed team would have been sufficient.
Second round
Qualified teams The following 15 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.
Team Qualified as Qualified onPrevious appearances in FIFA World Cup1 9 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986) 1 (1986) 9 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990) 2 (1938, 1994) 6 (1934, 1954, 1958, 1978, 1982, 1990) 6 (1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986, 1994) 9 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994) 6 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994) 6 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1970, 1990, 1994) 13 (1934, 1938, 19542, 19582, 19622, 19662, 19702, 19742, 19782, 19822, 19862, 19902, 1994) 7 (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990) 0 (debut) 13 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994) 9 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994) 8 (19303, 19503, 19543, 19583, 19623, 19743, 19823, 19903) 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year. 2 Competed as West Germany. A separate team for East Germany also participated in qualifications during this time, having only competed in 1974. 3 Competed as Yugoslavia.
Top goalscorers
Below are full goalscorer lists for all groups and the play-offs:
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8 Group 9 Play-offs
Notes To date, this was the last time that Portugal failed to qualify for a FIFA World Cup, and the only time Italy qualified for a FIFA World Cup through the playoffs (having lost in 2018, 2022 and 2026).
References
External links UEFA Qualifier results with full game box scores at Scoreshelf.com