For theseeding of qualified teams at the1998 FIFA World Cup, FIFA used theFIFA World Rankings in combination with performances of national teams in the three previousFIFA World Cups.[1]
For the FIFA World Ranking part, points were allocated on the basis of 32 points for the highest ranked team of the32 qualified teams at the end of each preceding three years, down to 1 point for the lowest ranked team.
For the World Cup performance part, points were allocated as follows:
The seedings table calculated a sum of points scored by each national team from the1986 FIFA World Cup,1990 FIFA World Cup and the1994 FIFA World Cup averaged in a 1:2:3 ratio respectively, that finally got multiplied by a 1.2weighting factor to account for 60% of the total sum of points. The seedings table also calculated a sum of points scored by each national team from theFIFA World Rankings at the three given dates December 1995, December 1996 and November 1997, averaged in a 1:1:1 ratio and finally multiplied by a 0.8 weighting factor to account for 40% of the total sum of points. The total points were finally the sum of these two calculated totals.[2]
| Seed | Country | 1. FIFA World Cup Finals | 2.FIFA World Rankings | Total points (1+2) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: Mexico 1986 (16.7%) | B: Italy 1990 (33.3%) | C: USA 1994 (50%) | Weighted avg. points 1.2*(1/6A+1/3B+1/2C) | A: Dec 1995 (33.3%) | B: Dec 1996 (33.3%) | C: Nov 1997 (33.3%) | Weighted avg. points 0.8*(1/3A+1/3B+1/3C) | |||||||||
| Rk | Pt. | Rk | Pt. | Rk | Pt. | Rk | Pt. | Rk | Pt. | Rk | Pt. | |||||
| 1 |  Germany | 2 | 31 | 1 | 32 | 5 | 28 | 35.80 | 2 | 31 | 2 | 31 | 2 | 31 | 24.80 | 60.60 |
| 2 |  Brazil | 5 | 28 | 9 | 24 | 1 | 32 | 34.40 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 32 | 25.60 | 60.00 |
| 3 |  Italy | 12 | 21 | 3 | 30 | 2 | 31 | 34.80 | 3 | 30 | 10 | 25 | 10 | 24 | 21.07 | 55.87 |
| 4 |  Spain | 7 | 26 | 10 | 23 | 8 | 25 | 29.40 | 4 | 29 | 8 | 27 | 3 | 30 | 22.93 | 52.33 |
| 5 |  Argentina | 1 | 32 | 2 | 31 | 10 | 23 | 32.60 | 7 | 27 | 22 | 16 | 19 | 17 | 16.00 | 48.60 |
| 6 |  Romania | - | 0 | 12 | 21 | 6 | 27 | 24.60 | 11 | 23 | 16 | 20 | 5 | 29 | 19.20 | 43.80 |
| 7 |  Netherlands | - | 0 | 15 | 18 | 7 | 26 | 22.80 | 6 | 28 | 9 | 26 | 12 | 22 | 20.27 | 43.07 |
| 8 |  Mexico | 6 | 27 | - | 0 | 13 | 20 | 17.40 | 12 | 22 | 11 | 24 | 11 | 23 | 18.40 | 35.80 |
| 9 |  Bulgaria | 15 | 18 | - | 0 | 4 | 29 | 21.00 | 17 | 20 | 15 | 21 | 24 | 13 | 14.40 | 35.40 |
| 10 |  England | 8 | 25 | 4 | 29 | - | 0 | 16.60 | 21 | 18 | 12 | 23 | 6 | 28 | 18.40 | 35.00 |
| 11 |  Belgium | 4 | 29 | 11 | 22 | 11 | 22 | 27.80 | 24 | 16 | 42 | 6 | 41 | 4 | 6.93 | 34.73 |
| 12 |  Colombia | - | 0 | 14 | 19 | 19 | 9 | 13.00 | 15 | 21 | 4 | 29 | 9 | 25 | 20.00 | 33.00 |
| 13 |  France | 3 | 30 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 6.00 | 8 | 26 | 3 | 30 | 7 | 27 | 22.13 | 28.13 |
| 14 |  United States | - | 0 | 23 | 8 | 14 | 19 | 14.60 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 29 | 11 | 13.07 | 27.67 |
| 15 |  Denmark | 9 | 24 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 4.80 | 9 | 25 | 6 | 28 | 8 | 26 | 21.07 | 25.87 |
| 16 |  Norway | - | 0 | - | 0 | 17 | 9 | 5.40 | 10 | 24 | 14 | 22 | 14 | 21 | 17.87 | 23.27 |
| 17 |  Morocco | 11 | 22 | - | 0 | 23 | 8 | 9.20 | 38 | 10 | 27 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 11.20 | 20.40 |
| 18 |  Cameroon | - | 0 | 7 | 26 | 22 | 8 | 15.20 | 37 | 11 | 56 | 3 | 51 | 2 | 4.27 | 19.47 |
| 19 |  Nigeria | - | 0 | - | 0 | 9 | 24 | 14.40 | 27 | 14 | 63 | 2 | 71 | 1 | 4.53 | 18.93 |
| 20 |  Saudi Arabia | - | 0 | - | 0 | 12 | 21 | 12.60 | 54 | 5 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 8 | 5.60 | 18.20 |
| 21 |  FR Yugoslavia | - | 0 | 5 | 28 | - | 0 | 11.20 | 68 | 2 | 55 | 4 | 22 | 15 | 5.60 | 16.80 |
| 22 |  South Korea | 20 | 9 | 22 | 8 | 20 | 9 | 10.40 | 46 | 6 | 44 | 5 | 31 | 9 | 5.33 | 15.73 |
| 23 |  Scotland | 19 | 9 | 20 | 9 | - | 0 | 5.40 | 26 | 15 | 29 | 11 | 36 | 6 | 8.53 | 13.93 |
| 24 |  Japan | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0.00 | 31 | 13 | 21 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 12.80 | 12.80 |
| 25 |  Tunisia | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0.00 | 22 | 17 | 23 | 15 | 23 | 14 | 12.27 | 12.27 |
| 26 |  Chile | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0.00 | 36 | 12 | 26 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 11.73 | 11.73 |
| 27 |  Austria | - | 0 | 18 | 9 | - | 0 | 3.60 | 39 | 9 | 34 | 9 | 26 | 12 | 8.00 | 11.60 |
| 28 |  Croatia | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0.00 | 41 | 7 | 24 | 14 | 21 | 16 | 9.87 | 9.87 |
| 29 |  Paraguay | 13 | 20 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 4.00 | 64 | 3 | 38 | 7 | 30 | 10 | 5.33 | 9.33 |
| 30 |  South Africa | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0.00 | 40 | 8 | 19 | 18 | 35 | 7 | 8.80 | 8.80 |
| 31 |  Jamaica | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0.00 | 56 | 4 | 32 | 10 | 39 | 5 | 5.07 | 5.07 |
| 32 |  Iran | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0.00 | 108 | 1 | 83 | 1 | 50 | 3 | 1.33 | 1.33 |
| Seed | Country | Rk | Pt. | Rk | Pt. | Rk | Pt. | Weighted avg. points 1.2*(1/6A+1/3B+1/2C) | Rk | Pt. | Rk | Pt. | Rk | Pt. | Weighted avg. points 0.8*(1/3A+1/3B+1/3C) | Total points (1+2) |
| A: Mexico 1986 (16.7%) | B: Italy 1990 (33.3%) | C: USA 1994 (50%) | A: Dec 1995 (33.3%) | B: Dec 1996 (33.3%) | C: Nov 1997 (33.3%) | |||||||||||
| 1. FIFA World Cup Finals | 2.FIFA World Rankings | |||||||||||||||
France were seeded as hosts,Brazil as defending champions. The other seeds were:Germany,Italy,Spain,Argentina,Romania, and theNetherlands.
The 1998 FIFA World Cup seeding are broadcast live on TF1, France Television and Canal+
1998 FIFA World Cup finalists | |
|---|---|
| Champions | |
| Runners-up | |
| Third place | |
| Fourth place | |
| Quarter-finals | |
| Round of 16 | |
| Group stage | |
Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA) | |
| Tournaments |
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| Qualification | |
| Finals | |
| Squads | |
| Final draw | |
| Broadcasters | |
| Bids | |
| Officials | |
| Team appearances | |
| Other records |
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| Miscellaneous | |
