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1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

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1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the African zone (CAF). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Contents

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 5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament.

Summary

There would be two rounds of play:

  • First Round: Cameroon, Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt, the 4 best 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 5 groups of 4 teams each. The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. These were:
  •  Tunisia
  •  Cameroon
  •  Morocco
  •  Nigeria
  •  South Africa

    • Second Leg

    Burkina Faso won 2-0 on aggregate

    Namibia won 3-1 on aggregate

    South Africa won 4-0 on aggregate

    Angola won 5-1 on aggregate

    Guinea won 5-4 on aggregate

    Liberia won 5-2 on aggregate

    Gabon won 3-0 on aggregate

    Burundi advanced to the Final Round 2-0 on aggregate but withdrew before the Final Round started, so Sierra Leone took their place and advanced to the Final Round.

    Zimbabwe won 4-3 on aggregate

    Congo won 3-1 on aggregate

    Zaire won 7-1 on aggregate

    Tunisia won 5-1 on aggregate

    Kenya won 3-2 on aggregate

    Togo won 3-2 on aggregate

    Zambia won 3-2 on aggregate

    Ghana won 2-1 on aggregate

    Final round

    Key:

  • Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.

    • Group 3

    In May 1997, Zaire were renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo DR).

    Group 5

    Gabon vs Sierra Leone was not played, since neither team could advance with a win.

    Match abandoned after 53minutes due to crowd trouble. FIFA allowed the result to stand

    Match postponed due to Sierra Leone not being able to travel from Freetown due to conflict. The match was never rearranged due to the result having no effect on final group standings

    References

    1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA