EUROPEAN QUALIFYING SECTION


Nine groups in total.

The nine group winners qualify automatically.

The nine runners-up and the third-placed Asian team will take part in play-offs to reach the finals.
Group 1
Yugoslavia
Russia
Switzerland
Slovenia
Faroe Islands
Luxembourg

Group 2
Holland
Portugal
Republic of Ireland
Cyprus
Estonia
Andorra

Group 3
Czech Republic
Denmark
Bulgaria
Iceland
Malta
Northern Ireland

Group 4
Sweden
Turkey
Slovakia
Macedonia
Moldova
Azerbijan

Group 5
Norway
Ukraine
Poland
Wales
Belarus
Armenia

Group 6
Belgium
Scotland
Croatia
Latvia
San Marino

Group 7
Spain
Austria
Israel
Bosnia
Liechtenstein

Group 8
Romania
Italy
Lithuania
Hungary
Georgia

Group 9
Germany
England
Greece
Finland
Albania


AFRICAN QUALIFYING SECTION

(First round played on basis of 25 two-leg knockout matches.

The 25 teams then go into a fresh draw for five groups of five, the winners of which qualify for the finals.

The first round draw, based on geographical considerations, will be organised in five groups of 10 countries - five seeded and five unseeded.

The unseeded teams will host the first leg of the ties)

Group A
Cape Verde Islands v Algeria
Mauritania v Tunisia
Benin v Senegal
Guinea-Bissau v Togo
Gambia v Morocco

Group B
Lesotho v South Africa
Swaziland v Angola
Botswana v Zambia
Madagascar v Gabon
Sudan v Mozambique

Group C
Equatorial Guinea v Congo
Libya v Mali
Rwanda v Cote D'Ivoire
Sao Tome e Principe v Sierra Leone
Central African Republic v Zimbabwe

Group D
Seychelles v Namibia
Djibouti v Congo DR
Somalia v Cameroon
Mauritius v Egypt
Eritrea v Nigeria

Group E
Chad v Liberia
Uganda v Guinea
Ethiopia v Burkina Faso
Malawi v Kenya
Tanzania v Ghana

CONCACAF QUALIFYING SECTION

Twelve teams in three groups of four.

Top two from each go into final roundrobin with top three qualifying.

The remaining eight teams will emerge from a central American zone and a Caribbean zones.

Central America Zone

Group A
El Salvador
Belize
Guatemala

Group B
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama

Caribbean Zone


(Teams play Home and Away to Decide Groups of four)

Group 1
Cuba v Cayman Islands
St Lucia v Surinam
Aruba v Puerto Rico
Barbados v Grenada

Group 2
St Vincent v US Virgin Islands
St Kitts & Nevis v Turks and Caicos Islands
Guyana v Antigua & Barbuda
British Virgin Islands v Bermuda

Group 3
Trinidad & Tobago v Netherlands Antilles
Dominican Republic v Monserrat
Dominica v Haiti
Anguilla v Bahamas

SOUTH AMERICAN SECTION
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela

OCEANIA QUALIFYING SECTION

Group 1
Australia
Tonga
Fiji
American Samoa
Samoa


Group 2
New Zealand
Tahiti
Solomon Islands
Vanuatu
Cook Islands

ASIAN QUALIFYING SECTION

Group 1
Oman
Syria
Laos
Philippines

Group 2
Iran
Tajikistan
Myanmar
Guam

Group 3
Qatar
Malaysia
Hong Kong
Palestine

Group 4
Kuwait
Singapore
Bahrain
Kyrgistan

Group 5
Thailand
Lebanon
Sri Lanka
Pakistan

Group 6
Iraq
Kazakhstan
Nepal
Macao

Group 7
Uzbekistan
Jordan
Turkmenistan
Chinese Taipei

Group 8
United Arab Emirates
India
Yemen
Brunei

Group 9
China PR
Indonesia
Maldives
Cambodia

Group 10
Saudi Arabia
Vietnam
Bangladesh
Mongolia

What do you think?

I think you've got too much time on your hands mate!

where is canada and usa

Being a Scotland fanatic Im not sure what to make of our group. I watched Belgium recently draw with Holland 5-5 and Croatia are a tough team at any level
With luck germany will nail the English
}=)

I'm hoping Germany will nail the English in Euro 2K too, coz they hate that even more than if it was Scotland!
Deutschland Deutschland uber alles! HaHa

Now that's what I call information Goonerbhoy!
So once again R. of Ireland meets Portugal. With Holland included, it won't be an easy group for anyone.

Does Italy want it any easier? Geez!

Spain Austria Israel in same group didnt we just have this for Euro 2000 qualifiers?

Greece and Finland had the worst luck they might as well quit now. Ireland also has to think their chances of making 2002 are slim and none.

Poland finally got a favorable draw! We had England/Holland for 94, and Italy/England for 98, talk about groups of death.

Hey who do u reckon australia will be playing in the world cup qualifier consider we should win our group and then win against the winner of the other group. then we have to play the 5th placed south american team. who do u reckon the will be.

Well Brasil and Argentina pretty sure bet to finish top 2. I think it will be between Colombia, Chile, and Uruguay for rest of the spots. Whatever team it is, it will be much tougher for Aussies this time then in 97 vs Iran.

GO FAROE ISLANDS!!! Italy82: the USA is north of Mexico. Canada is north of the USA
(it's a joke). Anyone notice that the quality of soccer in the Western Hemisphere diminshes the farther north you go? And consider the converse: the Brazilians don't know a damn thing about curling.

Must say that Sweden (where I came from) got a quite good group. Turkey is always a tough team but I think we are favorites.

Mark,
Your not suggesting i wrote all that come on! I simpily copied it from www.sportinglife.com, pasted it here and wrote what do you think. It took around 2mins.

The Scot`s have an extreemley hard group, and will struggle to finish runner-up never mind winning the group. Although we can beat anyone on our day i think group 6 will finish
1 Scotland
2 Belgium
3 Croatia
4 who cares!
England hopefully will beat germany it`s not that hard us scots beat `em.

Italy82: According to Grahame Jones of the L.A.Times, "For the U.S. and Mexico, Tuesday's draw held nothing. They, along with Costa Rica and Jamaica, are exempt from the preliminary rounds in the No. & Central American and Caribbean region." After the early rounds are completed, these four teams will be placed. As to where Canada is, trapped in the snow, I assume.

On behalf of RTTWC'98 masters everywhere: GO MALDIVES !!!!!

Canada plays the loser in round 3 of group 1 (or something like that) in the Caribbean Group.

[This message has been edited by gmartinz (edited 12-08-1999).]

I'm Belgian, but I really like the Scots as well. So I really hope we can both go trough.

I haven't seen the Croatians play lately so I wouldn't know how they're doing at the moment, but Scotland played good in England and Belgium is going great (just won 1-3 in and vs. Italy)

Holland RULZ, they'll the qualyifing, GERMANY is going to waste ENGLAND!!