World Cup FRANCE 98 – Press Releases

20 May 1994

32 teams at France 1998

32 teams will be competing at the XVIth World Cup Finals to be held in France in 1998, as opposed to 24 in recent Finals. The new initiative, launched by João Havelange last April, was made official this morning at a FIFA Executive Committee meeting in Zürich.

Since the 1982 World Cup in Spain, 24 national teams have been taking part in the World Cup Finals. This means that a further eight teams will be in France in four years’ time, thus opening the door to more countries from Confederations in the hitherto under-represented continents. FIFA will announce full details of the number of qualifiers from each Confederation in the next few months.

This increase to 32 teams will make FRANCE 98 the biggest World Cup of the century.

The French Organising Committee (CFO) has approved the proposal in principle. FIFA and CFO officials will meet in the next few weeks to evaluate the new obligations placed upon FRANCE 98 and to consider the full extent of the implications for both organisations.

France, the instigator of the World Cup competitions – they were the brainchild of two Frenchmen, Jules Rimet and Henri Delaunay – will thus have the honour of organising the most prestigious and universal of them all, drawing the curtain on a millennium and ushering in a new one – a privilege that France will be ready to fulfil.