finals, joining holders Germany. Wales were seeded in Pot 4 and drawn into Group 4 along with Belgium, Czechoslovakia (known as the Representation of Czechs and Slovaks or RCS following the breakup of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992), Romania, Cyprus and the Faroe Islands. Despite losing 5–1 in their opening game away to Romania, Wales bounced back with consecutive wins at home to the Faroe Islands (6–0) and away to Cyprus (1–0), before another defeat away to Belgium (2–0). That scoreline was reversed in the two's next meeting, sparking a run of five straight matches unbeaten, including wins away to the Faroe Islands (3–0) and at home to Cyprus (2–0), and draws home and away against the RCS. That meant Wales were still in contention going into their final match at home to Romania, though they needed to win and hope the RCS did not beat Belgium in the other game in Brussels. Romania took the lead just after the half-hour mark, but Dean Saunders equalised for Wales on the hour. Two minutes later, Gary Speed was fouled by Dan Petrescu in the Romania penalty area, and referee Kurt Röthlisberger pointed to the spot. Left-back Paul Bodin stepped up to take the kick having scored each of his last three penalties for Wales; however, his powerful kick hit the crossbar and stayed out. With seven minutes to go, Florin Raducioiu scored the winning goal for Romania. With Belgium and the RCS playing out a goalless draw in Brussels, had Bodin's penalty gone in and Wales hung on, they would have qualified for the World Cup; instead, they finished fourth in the group, three points behind qualifiers Romania and Belgium. France 1998 The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the first to feature 32 teams in the finals, but following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, another record of 49 UEFA nations (excluding host nation France) entered qualifying, playing for 14 places in the finals. The teams were seeded into five pots and drawn into nine groups (four of six teams and five of five); the winners of each group and the best runner-up would qualify automatically, with the remaining eight runners-up going into a play-off for the final four spots. Wales were seeded in Pot 4 and drawn into Group 7 with the Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey and San Marino. Wales managed just two wins in qualifying, both