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. Qualified teams Qualification process The distribution by confederation for the 1998 FIFA World Cup was: AFC (Asia): 3 or 4 places CAF (Africa): 5 places CONCACAF (North America): 3 places CONMEBOL (South America): 4 places (+ Brazil qualified automatically as 1994 FIFA World Cup winners for a total of 5 places) OFC (Oceania): 0 or 1 place(s) UEFA (Europe): 14 places (+ France qualified automatically as host nation for a total of 15 places) Confederation qualification AFC A total of 36 teams entered the competition. The Asian zone was allocated 3.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament. There were three rounds of play: First round: The 36 teams were divided into 10 groups of 3 or 4 teams each. The teams played against each other twice, except in Group 10, where the teams played against each other once. The group winners would advance to the final round. Final round: The 10 teams were divided into 2 groups of 5 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. The runners-up would advance to the AFC play-off. Play-off: The two teams played against each other once in Malaysia. The winner would qualify. The loser would advance to the AFC–OFC intercontinental play-offs. Final positions (final Round) Play-off for 3rd place CAF A total of 38 CAF teams entered the competition. However, Mali and Niger both withdrew before the draw was made. The African Zone was allocated five places (out of 32) in the final tournament. There would be two rounds of play: First Round: Cameroon, Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt, the four highest-ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the Final Round directly. The remaining 32 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round. Final Round: The 20 teams were divided into five groups of four teams each. The teams would