User:Quidster4040/sandbox/1998 FIFA Rimet Cup

The 1998 FIFA Rimet Cup was the 7th edition of FIFA Rimet Cup, a quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA, for the top teams in FIFA World Cup qualification that do not qualify for the FIFA World Cup. It took place in Turkey from 10 May to 8 June 1997, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in 1997.

Qualification
Qualification for the FIFA World Cup doubled as qualification to the FIFA Rimet Cup.

Direct bye to group stage
16 nations earned a berth directly into the group stage of the competition. Of the 16 teams, 5 were from UEFA (one went to host, Turkey), 3 from AFC, 3 from CAF, 2 from CONMEBOL, 2 from CONCACAF, and 1 from OFC.

Participate in the qualifying round
The 1998 edition of the Rimet Cup was the first to feature a qualifying round ahead of the tournament. 32 nations entered in the qualifying round, which is a two-legged home and away series that was played on 25 February and 14 March 1998. Of the 32 teams, 14 were from UEFA, 1 was from CONMEBOL, 3 from CONCACAF, 2 from OFC, 6 from AFC, and 6 from CAF.

Qualifying round
The first legs were played on 25 February 1998 and the second legs were played on 14 March 1998.

!colspan="5"|Asia-Pacific Cluster

!colspan="5"|African Cluster

!colspan="5"|Americas Cluster

!colspan="5"|UEFA Cluster


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Draw
The draw was held on 29 March 1998, at 18:00 CEST, at the Sydney. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four.

For the draw, the teams were allocated to four pots based on the FIFA World Rankings of February 1998. Pot 1 contained the hosts Australia (who were automatically assigned to Position A1) and the best seven teams, Pot 2 contained the next best eight teams, and so on for Pots 3 and 4. This was different from previous draws, where only Pot 1 was based on FIFA Rankings while the remaining pots were based on geographical considerations. However, still retained was the fact that teams from the same confederation were not drawn against each other for the group stage, except for UEFA where each group contained up to two teams.