The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the sixteenth FIFA World Cup and was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The tournament was won by France, winning their first title beating Brazil 3-0 in the final at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis.
- 1. Host selection
- 2. Qualifying
- 3. Wales and the 1998 World Cup
- 4. Wales players used during qualifying
England, France, Germany, Morocco and Switzerland expressed an interest in hostng the 1998 FIFA World Cup. By the time of the vote , held in Zürich on 1 July 1992, England and Germany had withdrawn and Switzerland's bid was not considered as it did not meet FIFA requirements.
France defeated Morocco by 12 votes to 7 to win the right to host the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
One hundred and seventy four1 countries entered the qualifying competition.
With the tournament expanded to include 32 teams, the hosts, France, and the defending champions, Brazil, qualified automatically and of the remaining 30 places, 14 were allocated to Europe (UEFA), three to South America (CONMEBOL), three to the North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF), five to Africa (CAF) and three to Asia (AFC) whilst one qualifier from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) would face one team from the AFC qualifiers in an intercontinental play off for the final place.
Fifty teams entered the European qualifiers for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Hosts France qualified automatically.
The remaining 49 teams were divided into nine groups; four groups of six teams and five groups of five teams. The nine 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. The team with the best record would also qualify. The other runners-up would advance to the UEFA Play-offs.
Wales were placed in Pool 4 as fourth seeds, and were drawn in Group 7 alongside Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey and San Marino; this would be Wales' first meeting with San Marino.
Uefa qualifying Group 7
| no. | date | score | scorers (wales) | venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 467 | 02/06/1996 | San Marino 0-5 Wales | M Hughes (2), Giggs, Melville, Pembridge | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle | WCQ |
| 31/08/1996 | Belgium 2-1 Turkey | Stade de Baudouin, Brussels | WCQ | ||
| 468 | 31/08/1996 | Wales 6-0 San Marino | M Hughes (2), Saunders (2), Melville, Robinson | Arms Park, Cardiff | WCQ |
| 469 | 05/10/1996 | Wales 1-3 Netherlands | Saunders | Arms Park, Cardiff | WCQ |
| 09/10/1996 | San Marino 0-3 Belgium | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle | WCQ | ||
| 470 | 09/11/1996 | Netherlands 7-1 Wales | Saunders | Phillips Stadion, Eindhoven | WCQ |
| 09/11/1996 | Turkey 7-0 San Marino | Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Istanbul | WCQ | ||
| 14/12/1996 | Belgium 0-3 Netherlands | Stade de Baudouin, Brussels | WCQ | ||
| 471 | 14/12/1996 | Wales 0-0 Turkey | Arms Park, Cardiff | WCQ | |
| 29/03/1997 | Netherlands 4-0 San Marino | Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam | WCQ | ||
| 473 | 29/03/1997 | Wales 1-2 Belgium | Speed | Arms Park, Cardiff | WCQ |
| 02/04/1997 | Turkey 1-0 Netherlands | Ataturk, Bursa | WCQ | ||
| 30/04/1997 | San Marino 0-6 Netherlands | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle | WCQ | ||
| 30/04/1997 | Turkey 1-3 Belgium | Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Istanbul | WCQ | ||
| 07/06/1997 | Belgium 6-0 San Marino | Stade de Baudouin, Brussels | WCQ | ||
| 475 | 20/08/1997 | Turkey 6-4 Wales | Blake, Savage, Saunders, Melville | Ali Sami Yen, Istanbul | WCQ |
| 06/09/1997 | Netherlands 3-1 Belgium | De Kuip, Rotterdam | WCQ | ||
| 10/09/1997 | San Marino 0-5 Turkey | Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle | WCQ | ||
| 476 | 11/10/1997 | Belgium 3-2 Wales | Pembridge, Giggs | Stade de Baudouin, Brussels | WCQ |
| 11/10/1997 | Netherlands 0-0 Turkey | Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam | WCQ |
Group standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Holland | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 4 | 19 |
| 2. | Belgium | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 11 | 18 |
| 3. | Turkey | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 14 |
| 4. | Wales | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 21 | 7 |
| 5. | San Marino | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
Wales were placed in Pool 4 as fourth seeds, and were drawn in Group 7 alongside Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey and San Marino; this would be Wales' first meeting with San Marino.
Before heading to play San Marino in the opening match of the campaign, Wales manager, Bobby Gould, arranged a friendly with Leyton Orient who had just finished the season in 21st place in the lowest tier of English League football.
Thankfully for Wales, a 1-2 defeat to Leyton Orient didn't dent the confidence and in the first ever meeting with San Marino, Wales secured a 5-0 win in Serravalle.
A 6-0 thrashing of the group's minnows in the return match in Cardiff gave Wales the perfect start but then came two matches against the group's top seeds, the Netherlands.
An early Dean Saunders goal gave Wales an unexpected lead at the Arms Park, and a solid defensive display saw Wales soak up the Dutch pressure for 70 minutes until substitue Pierre van Hooijdonk latched on to a lose ball in the box to equalise just two minutes after coming on to the field.
Any hopes Wales had of salvaging a draw were dashed three minutes later when van Hooijdonk headed home a Clarence Seedforf cross to put the visitors ahead before Ronald de Boer sealed the win with a third goal four mintes later.
A month later Wales suffered their worst defeat in 66 years losing 1-7 as the Netherlands ran riot in Eindhoven.
In a game where Vinnie Jones donned the captain's armband, Wales conceded seven goals for the first time since losing 0-7 to Ireland in 1930.
A goalless draw at home to Turkey proved to be Wales' last point of the qualification campaign as the last three matches of the campaign ended in defeat.
Players used during qualifying
Wales used a total of 33 players during the qualifying campaign with no player playing every minute of every game however Mark Pembridge and Dean Saunders played some part in every match.
Rob Edwards made his debut against Turkey at the Ali Sami Yen, Istanbul and John Oster made his debut in the final match of the campaign against Belgium at the Stade de Baudouin, Brussels
Clayton Blackmore won his 39th and final cap against Belgium at the National Stadium, Cardiff, Neville Southall won his 92nd and final cap against Turkey at the Ali Sami Yen, Istanbul and Barry Horne won his 59th and final cap against Belgium at the Stade de Baudouin, Brussels.
| Player | SMR | SMR | NED | NED | TUR | BEL | TUR | BEL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton Blackmore | 90 | |||||||
| Nathan Blake | 90 | |||||||
| Jason Bowen | 90 | |||||||
| Mark Bowen | 90 | 90 | 90 | 57 | ||||
| Marcus Browning | 75 | 90 | 83 | |||||
| Chris Coleman | 90 | 80 | ||||||
| Rob Edwards | 22 | 90 | ||||||
| Ryan Giggs | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||
| Jeremy Goss | 15 | |||||||
| John Hartson | 66 | 9 | 25 | 84 | ||||
| Barry Horne | 83 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||
| Ceri Hughes | 68 | 45 | ||||||
| Mark Hughes | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||
| Steve Jenkins | 7 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||||
| Lee Jones | 7 | |||||||
| Paul Jones | 45 | |||||||
| Vinnie Jones | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||||
| Andy Legg | 10 | 22 | ||||||
| Andy Marriott | 90 | |||||||
| Andy Melville | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||
| Alan Neilson | 90 | |||||||
| John Oster | 1 | |||||||
| Rob Page | 90 | 90 | 45 | |||||
| Mark Pembridge | 90 | 90 | 68 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Karl Ready | 90 | |||||||
| Tony Roberts | 14 | |||||||
| John Robinson | 90 | 77 | 90 | 33 | 90 | |||
| Dean Saunders | 80 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 81 | 65 | 83 | 90 |
| Robbie Savage | 7 | 90 | 89 | |||||
| Neville Southall | 90 | 76 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 45 | |
| Kit Symons | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||||
| Gary Speed | 13 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||
| Gareth Taylor | 10 | 24 | 6 |
1Of the 174 countries who entered Bahamas, Bermuda, Mali and Niger withdrew. Burundi withdrew due to civil war and were replaced by Sierra Leone, who had been eliminated by Burundi in the first round. Sierra Leone thus became the first team to be eliminated twice from the same qualifying competition.
