Qualification
The qualification draw for the 1998 World Cup finals took place in the Musée du Louvre, Paris on 12 December 1995. As tournament hosts, France was exempt from the draw as was Brazil the defending champions. 174 teams from six confederations participated, up 24 from the previous round. In Europe, thirteen countries qualified excluding France, with nine by virtue of being group winners and the other eight group runners-up being drawn into pairs of four play-off matches – the winners of which qualifying for the finals. Five places were granted by CONMEBOL and CAF each, the governing bodies of South America and Africa respectively while three spots were contested between 30 teams through CONCACAF – the governing body in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The winner of the Oceanian zone advanced through 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 World Cup for the first time: Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa. The last team to qualify was Iran by virtue of beating Australia in a two-legged tie on 29 November 1997. It marked their first appearance in the finals since 1978, the last time Tunisia also qualified for the tournament. Paraguay and Denmark qualified for the first time since 1986. Among the teams who failed to qualify were two-time winners Uruguay for the second successive tournament and Sweden who finished third in 1994. Russia failed to qualify for the first time since 1978, where they contested as the USSR, after losing to Italy in the play-off round.
Read more about this topic: 1998 FIFA World Cup