1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone (UEFA).

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
UEFA European Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
UEFA European Championship

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.[1][2]

Seeding

The teams were divided into five pools as shown in table below (November 1995 rankings shown in brackets). Teams in bold eventually qualified for the final tournament, teams in bold italic qualified for the final tournament through the play-offs, and teams in italic participated in the play-offs but did not qualify for the final tournament.

Pot 1
TeamRank
 Germany2
 Spain3
 Italy4
 Russia5
 Norway6
 Denmark8
 Netherlands10
 Sweden11
 Romania12
Pot 2
TeamRank
 Bulgaria14
  Switzerland15
 Portugal16
 Czech Republic18
 England20
 Republic of Ireland21
 Scotland25
 Belgium26
 Greece29
Pot 3
TeamRank
 Turkey31
 Poland33
 Slovakia35
 Austria38
 Croatia39
 Israel40
 Finland41
 Lithuania45
 Northern Ireland46
Pot 4
TeamRank
 Iceland48
 Latvia54
 Wales57
 Hungary60
 Cyprus70
 Ukraine71
 Slovenia75
 Georgia77
 FR Yugoslavia80
Pot 5
TeamRank
 Albania87
 Belarus88
 Malta89
 Macedonia90
 Luxembourg98
 Moldova107
 Armenia112
 Faroe Islands116
 Estonia126
 Azerbaijan136
 San Marino142
 Liechtenstein151
 Bosnia and HerzegovinaNR

Summary
  Winner of each group and the best runner-up qualified directly for the 1998 FIFA World Cup
  The remaining runners-up advanced to the second round (play-offs)
  Other teams were eliminated after the first round
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8 Group 9

Denmark
England
Norway
Austria
Bulgaria
Spain
Netherlands
Romania
Germany

Croatia
Italy
Hungary
Scotland
Russia
FR Yugoslavia
Belgium
Republic of Ireland
Ukraine

Greece

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Slovenia
Poland

Georgia

Moldova
Finland

Switzerland

Azerbaijan
Sweden

Latvia

Estonia

Belarus
Israel

Cyprus

Luxembourg
Czech Republic

Slovakia

Faroe Islands

Malta
Turkey

Wales

San Marino
Lithuania

Macedonia

Iceland

Liechtenstein
Portugal

Armenia

Northern Ireland

Albania

Group 1
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 1
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Denmark 8 5 2 1 14 6 +8 17 Qualification to 1998 FIFA World Cup — 3–1 2–1 2–0 4–0
2  Croatia 8 4 3 1 17 12 +5 15 Advance to second round 1–1 — 1–1 3–2 3–3
3  Greece 8 4 2 2 11 4 +7 14 0–0 0–1 — 3–0 2–0
4  Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 3 0 5 9 14 −5 9 3–0 1–4 0–1 — 1–0
5  Slovenia 8 0 1 7 5 20 −15 1 0–2 1–3 0–3 1–2 —
Source:

Group 2
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  England 8 6 1 1 15 2 +13 19 Qualification to 1998 FIFA World Cup — 0–1 2–1 2–0 4–0
2  Italy 8 5 3 0 11 1 +10 18 Advance to second round 0–0 — 3–0 1–0 3–0
3  Poland 8 3 1 4 10 12 −2 10 0–2 0–0 — 4–1 2–1
4  Georgia 8 3 1 4 7 9 −2 10 0–2 0–0 3–0 — 2–0
5  Moldova 8 0 0 8 2 21 −19 0 0–3 1–3 0–3 0–1 —
Source:

Group 3
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 3
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Norway 8 6 2 0 21 2 +19 20 Qualification to 1998 FIFA World Cup — 3–0 1–1 5–0 5–0
2  Hungary 8 3 3 2 10 8 +2 12 Advance to second round 1–1 — 1–0 1–1 3–1
3  Finland 8 3 2 3 11 12 −1 11 0–4 1–1 — 2–3 3–0
4   Switzerland 8 3 1 4 11 12 −1 10 0–1 1–0 1–2 — 5–0
5  Azerbaijan 8 1 0 7 3 22 −19 3 0–1 0–3 1–2 1–0 —
Source:

Group 4
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Austria 10 8 1 1 17 4 +13 25 Qualification to 1998 FIFA World Cup — 0–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 4–0
2  Scotland 10 7 2 1 15 3 +12 23 2–0 — 1–0 2–0 2–0 4–1
3  Sweden 10 7 0 3 16 9 +7 21 0–1 2–1 — 1–0 1–0 5–1
4  Latvia 10 3 1 6 10 14 −4 10 1–3 0–2 1–2 — 1–0 2–0
5  Estonia 10 1 1 8 4 16 −12 4 0–3 0–0 2–3 1–3 — 1–0
6  Belarus 10 1 1 8 5 21 −16 4 0–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 —
Source:

Group 5
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 5
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Bulgaria 8 6 0 2 18 9 +9 18 Qualification to 1998 FIFA World Cup — 1–0 1–0 4–1 4–0
2  Russia 8 5 2 1 19 5 +14 17 Advance to second round 4–2 — 2–0 4–0 3–0
3  Israel 8 4 1 3 9 7 +2 13 2–1 1–1 — 2–0 1–0
4  Cyprus 8 3 1 4 10 15 −5 10 1–3 1–1 2–0 — 2–0
5  Luxembourg 8 0 0 8 2 22 −20 0 1–2 0–4 0–3 1–3 —
Source:

Group 6
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 6
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 10 8 2 0 26 6 +20 26 Qualification to 1998 FIFA World Cup — 2–0 1–0 4–1 3–1 4–0
2  FR Yugoslavia 10 7 2 1 29 7 +22 23 Advance to second round 1–1 — 1–0 2–0 3–1 6–0
3  Czech Republic 10 5 1 4 16 6 +10 16 0–0 1–2 — 3–0 2–0 6–0
4  Slovakia 10 5 1 4 18 14 +4 16 1–2 1–1 2–1 — 3–0 6–0
5  Faroe Islands 10 2 0 8 10 31 −21 6 2–6 1–8 0–2 1–2 — 2–1
6  Malta 10 0 0 10 2 37 −35 0 0–3 0–5 0–1 0–2 1–2 —
Source:

Group 7
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 7
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 8 6 1 1 26 4 +22 19 Qualification to 1998 FIFA World Cup — 3–1 0–0 7–1 4–0
2  Belgium 8 6 0 2 20 11 +9 18 Advance to second round 0–3 — 2–1 3–2 6–0
3  Turkey 8 4 2 2 21 9 +12 14 1–0 1–3 — 6–4 7–0
4  Wales 8 2 1 5 20 21 −1 7 1–3 1–2 0–0 — 6–0
5  San Marino 8 0 0 8 0 42 −42 0 0–6 0–3 0–5 0–5 —
Source:

Group 8
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 8
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Romania 10 9 1 0 37 4 +33 28 Qualification to 1998 FIFA World Cup — 1–0 3–0 4–2 4–0 8–0
2  Republic of Ireland 10 5 3 2 22 8 +14 18 Advance to second round 1–1 — 0–0 3–0 0–0 5–0
3  Lithuania 10 5 2 3 11 8 +3 17 0–1 1–2 — 2–0 2–0 2–1
4  Macedonia 10 4 1 5 22 18 +4 13 0–3 3–2 1–2 — 1–0 3–0
5  Iceland 10 2 3 5 11 16 −5 9 0–4 2–4 0–0 1–1 — 4–0
6  Liechtenstein 10 0 0 10 3 52 −49 0 1–8 0–5 0–2 1–11 0–4 —
Source: MacedonianFootball

Group 9
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 9
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Germany 10 6 4 0 23 9 +14 22 Qualification to 1998 FIFA World Cup — 2–0 1–1 4–0 1–1 4–3
2  Ukraine 10 6 2 2 10 6 +4 20 Advance to second round 0–0 — 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–0
3  Portugal 10 5 4 1 12 4 +8 19 0–0 1–0 — 3–1 1–0 2–0
4  Armenia 10 1 5 4 8 17 −9 8 1–5 0–2 0–0 — 0–0 3–0
5  Northern Ireland 10 1 4 5 6 10 −4 7 1–3 0–1 0–0 1–1 — 2–0
6  Albania 10 1 1 8 7 20 −13 4 2–3 0–1 0–3 1–1 1–0 —
Source:

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
 Scotland 641182+613
 Italy 633050+512
 Belgium 64021111012
 Russia 6321125+711
 Croatia 6321118+311
 FR Yugoslavia 632175+211
 Republic of Ireland 622286+28
 Ukraine 62225508
 Hungary 613247−36

Second round
Main article: 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA second round
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

Qualified teams

The following 15 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
 FranceHosts2 July 19929 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986)
 DenmarkGroup 1 winners11 October 19971 (1986)
 EnglandGroup 2 winners11 October 19979 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990)
 NorwayGroup 3 winners6 September 19972 (1938, 1994)
 AustriaGroup 4 winners11 October 19976 (1934, 1954, 1958, 1978, 1982, 1990)
 BulgariaGroup 5 winners10 September 19976 (1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986, 1994)
 SpainGroup 6 winners11 October 19979 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994)
 NetherlandsGroup 7 winners11 October 19976 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994)
 RomaniaGroup 8 winners18 August 19976 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1970, 1990, 1994)
 GermanyGroup 9 winners11 October 199713 (1934, 1938, 19542, 19582, 19622, 19662, 19702, 19742, 19782, 19822, 19862, 19902, 1994)
 ScotlandBest runners-up11 October 19977 (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990)
 CroatiaPlay-off winners15 November 19970 (debut)
 ItalyPlay-off winners15 November 199713 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994)
 BelgiumPlay-off winners15 November 19979 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994)
 FR YugoslaviaPlay-off winners15 November 19978 (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.

Goalscorers

There were 667 goals scored in 228 matches, for an average of 2.93 goals per match.

14 goals
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals


6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

Notes
  • To date, this was the last time that Portugal failed to qualify for a FIFA World Cup.

References
  1. "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking – November 1995 (UEFA)". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 21 November 1995. Archived from the original on February 3, 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  2. "The 1998 FIFA World Cup - Preliminary Draw in Paris". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 30 November 1995. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
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