Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone . 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 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 1995FIFA World Rankings. The teams were divided into six pools as shown in table below. The national teams which eventually qualified for the final tournament are presented in bold and the national teams who took part in the play-offs are presented in italic.
Summary
Group [|1]
Group [|2]
Group [|3]
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Group 9
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Group 9
Ranking of second-placed teams
Record against the 1st, 3rd and 4th-placed team in their groups.
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
6
4
1
1
8
2
+6
13
6
3
3
0
5
0
+5
12
6
4
0
2
11
11
0
12
6
3
2
1
12
5
+7
11
6
3
2
1
11
8
+3
11
6
3
2
1
7
5
+2
11
6
2
2
2
8
6
+2
8
6
2
2
2
5
5
0
8
6
1
3
2
4
7
−3
6
Play-offs
Matches
Qualified teams
The following 15 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.
