1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
Tournament details
Dates10 March 1996 – 29 November 1997
Teams174 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played643
Goals scored1,922 (2.99 per match)
Top scorer(s)Iran Karim Bagheri
(19 goals)
1994
2002

The 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe) — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. 174 teams entered the qualification rounds, while two places were reserved for France and Brazil as host nation and defending champions, respectively.