| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 24 April 1996 – 15 November 1997 |
| Teams | 49 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 228 |
| Goals scored | 667 (2.93 per match) |
| Attendance | 4,794,512 (21,029 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Predrag Mijatović(14 goals) |
← 1994 2002 → | |
| UEFA European Qualifiers |
|---|
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone (UEFA).
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.