Editing 1998 FIFA World Cup (section)

== Qualification ==
{{Main|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification}}
The qualification draw for the 1998 World Cup finals took place in the Musée du [[Louvre]], Paris on 12 December 1995.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/01/sports/new-overtime-rule-for-1998-world-cup.html |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=1 June 1995 |access-date=27 January 2012 |title=New Overtime Rule For 1998 World Cup |archive-date=11 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711185625/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/01/sports/new-overtime-rule-for-1998-world-cup.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As tournament hosts, France was exempt from the draw as was defending champion Brazil, but it was also France's first World Cup since 1986. 174 teams from six confederations participated, 24 more than in the [[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification|previous round]]. Fourteen countries qualified from the European zone (in addition to hosts France). Ten were determined after group play – nine group winners and the best second-placed team; the other eight group runners-up were drawn into pairs of four play-off matches with the winners qualifying for the finals as well.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/italy-and-poland-bar-englands-road-to-france-1525596.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/italy-and-poland-bar-englands-road-to-france-1525596.html |archive-date=1 May 2022 |url-access=subscription|work=The Independent |date=13 December 1995 |access-date=27 January 2012 |last=Shaw |first=Phil |title=Italy and Poland bar England's road to France}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[CONMEBOL]] (South America) and [[Confederation of African Football|CAF]] (Africa) were each given five spots in the final tournament, while three spots were contested between 30 [[CONCACAF]] members in the North and Central America and the Caribbean zone. The winner of the Oceanian zone advanced to an intercontinental play-off against the runner-up of the Asian play-off, determined by the two best second-placed teams.

Four nations qualified for the first time: [[Croatia national football team|Croatia]], [[Jamaica national football team|Jamaica]], [[Japan national football team|Japan]] and [[South Africa national football team|South Africa]]. The last team to qualify was [[Iran national football team|Iran]] by virtue of beating [[Australia men's national soccer team|Australia]] in a [[1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC–OFC play-off)|two-legged tie]] on 29 November 1997.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/matches/qualifiers/match=8705/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425053310/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/matches/qualifiers/match=8705/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 April 2013 |publisher=FIFA |date=29 November 1997 |access-date=27 January 2012 |title=Celebration and heartbreak}}</ref> It marked their first appearance in the finals since [[1978 FIFA World Cup|1978]], [[Chile national football team|Chile]] qualified for the first time since 1982, after serving a ban that saw them miss out on the two previous tournaments. Paraguay and Denmark returned for the first time since 1986. Austria, England, Scotland and Yugoslavia returned after missing out on the [[1994 FIFA World Cup|1994 tournament]], with the Balkan team now appearing under the name of [[Serbia and Montenegro|FR Yugoslavia]]. Among the teams who failed to qualify were two-time winners [[Uruguay national football team|Uruguay]] (for the second successive tournament); [[Portugal national football team|Portugal]] (their last absence as of 2022); [[Sweden men's national football team|Sweden]], who finished third in [[1994 FIFA World Cup|1994]]; [[Russia national football team|Russia]] (who failed to qualify for the first time since 1978 after losing to Italy in the play-off round); and the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]], who had qualified for the previous two tournaments.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/16/sports/soccer-roundup-1998-world-cup-qualifying-belgium-earns-berth-eliminates-ireland.html |work=The New York Times |date=15 November 1997 |access-date=27 January 2012 |title=Soccer: Roundup – 1998 World Cup qualifying; Belgium earns berth and eliminates Ireland |archive-date=14 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614122144/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/16/sports/soccer-roundup-1998-world-cup-qualifying-belgium-earns-berth-eliminates-ireland.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The highest-ranked team not to qualify was the UEFA Euro 1996 runners-up the [[Czech Republic national football team|Czech Republic]] (ranked 3rd), while the lowest-ranked team that did qualify was Nigeria (ranked 74th).

As of 2022, this was the last time [[Austria national football team|Austria]], [[Bulgaria national football team|Bulgaria]], [[Norway national football team|Norway]], [[Romania national football team|Romania]] and [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals, and the only time Jamaica have qualified.

=== List of qualified teams ===
{{See also|1998 FIFA World Cup seeding}}
The following 32 teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings,<ref name="FIFA">{{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=22 February 2016|publisher=FIFA |date=27 January 2012}}</ref> qualified for the final tournament.
{{col-begin}}
{{col-4}}
;[[1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)|AFC]] (4)
* {{fb|IRN}}&nbsp;(42)
* {{fb|JPN|1870}}&nbsp;(debut) (12)
* {{fb|SAU}}&nbsp;(34)
* {{fb|KOR|1997}}&nbsp;(20)
;[[1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)|CAF]] (5)
* {{fb|CMR}}&nbsp;(49)
* {{fb|MAR}}&nbsp;(13)
* {{fb|NGA}}&nbsp;(74)
* {{fb|RSA}}&nbsp;(debut) (24)&nbsp;
* {{fb|TUN|1959}}&nbsp;(21)
;[[1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)|OFC]] (0)
* ''None qualified''
{{col-4}}
;[[1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)|CONCACAF]] (3)
* {{fb|JAM}}&nbsp;(debut) (30)
* {{fb|MEX}}&nbsp;(4)
* {{fb|USA}}&nbsp;(11)
;[[1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)|CONMEBOL]] (5)
* {{fb|ARG|1861}}&nbsp;(6)
* {{fb|BRA}}&nbsp;(holders) (1)
* {{fb|CHI}}&nbsp;(9)
* {{fb|COL}}&nbsp;(10)
* {{fb|PAR|1990}}&nbsp;(29)
{{col-4}}
;[[1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|UEFA]] (15)
* {{fb|AUT}}&nbsp;(31)
* {{fb|BEL}}&nbsp;(36)
* {{fb|BUL}}&nbsp;(35)
* {{fb|CRO}}&nbsp;(debut) (19)
* {{fb|DEN}}&nbsp;(27)
* {{fb|ENG}}&nbsp;(5)
* {{fb|FRA|1974}}&nbsp;(18) (hosts)
* {{fb|GER}}&nbsp;(2)
* {{fb|ITA|1946}}&nbsp;(14)
* {{fb|NED}}&nbsp;(25)
* {{fb|NOR}}&nbsp;(7)
* {{fb|ROU}}&nbsp;(22)
* {{fb|SCO}}&nbsp;(41)
* {{fb|ESP}}&nbsp;(15)
* {{flagdeco|FRY}} [[FR Yugoslavia national football team|FR Yugoslavia]]&nbsp;(8)
{{col-4}}
[[File:1998 world cup qualification.png|thumb|upright=1.4|{{legend|#000cff|Countries qualified for World Cup}} {{legend|#ffb400|Country did not qualify}} {{legend|black|Countries that did not enter World Cup}} {{legend|#ababab|Country not a FIFA member}}]]
{{col-end}}

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
|-
! colspan="4"| Teams listed by FIFA ranking as of May 1998<ref name="FIFA"/>
|-
! !! Country !! Confederation !! Rank
|-
| 1 || {{fb|BRA}} (1994 winner)|| CONMEBOL || align=center | 1
|-
| 2 || {{fb|GER}} || UEFA || align=center | 2
|-
| 3 || {{fb|MEX}}|| CONCACAF || align=center | 4
|-
| 4 || {{fb|ENG}} || UEFA || align=center | 5
|-
| 5 || {{fb|ARG|1861}} || CONMEBOL || align=center | 6
|-
| 6 || {{fb|NOR}} || UEFA || align=center | 7
|-
| 7 || {{fb|FR Yugoslavia}} || UEFA || align=center | 8
|-
| 8 || {{fb|CHI}} || CONMEBOL || align=center | 9
|-
| 9 || {{fb|COL}} || CONMEBOL || align=center | 10
|-
| 10 || {{fb|USA}} || CONCACAF|| align=center | 11
|-
| 11 || {{fb|JPN|1870}} || AFC || align=center | 12
|-
| 12 || {{fb|MAR}} || CAF || align=center | 13
|-
| 13 || {{fb|ITA|1946}} || UEFA || align=center | 14
|-
| 14 || {{fb|ESP}} || UEFA || align=center | 15
|-
| 15 || {{fb|FRA|1974}} (host)|| UEFA || align=center | 18
|-
| 16 || {{fb|CRO}} || UEFA || align=center | 19
|-
| 17 || {{fb|KOR|1997}} || AFC || align=center | 20
|-
| 18 || {{fb|TUN|1959}} || CAF || align=center | 21
|-
| 19 || {{fb|ROM}} || UEFA || align=center | 22
|-
| 20 || {{fb|RSA}} || CAF || align=center | 24
|-
| 21 || {{fb|NED}} || UEFA || align=center | 25
|-
| 22 || {{fb|DEN}} || UEFA || align=center | 27
|-
| 23 || {{fb|PAR}} || CONMEBOL || align=center | 29
|-
| 24 || {{fb|JAM}} || CONCACAF || align=center | 30
|-
| 25 || {{fb|AUT}} || UEFA || align=center | 31
|-
| 26 || {{fb|KSA}} || AFC || align=center | 34
|-
| 27 || {{fb|BUL}} || UEFA || align=center | 35
|-
| 28 || {{fb|BEL}} || UEFA || align=center | 36
|-
| 29 || {{fb|SCO}} || UEFA || align=center | 41
|-
| 30 || {{fb|IRN}} || AFC || align=center | 42
|-
| 31 || {{fb|CMR}} || CAF || align=center | 49
|-
| 32 || {{fb|NGA}} || CAF || align=center | 74
|}