World Cup FRANCE 98 – Press Releases

12 December 1995

Draw for the preliminary competition

The draw for the preliminary competition of the XVIth World Cup was held in the suitably sumptuous setting of the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. It was attended by leading representatives of football’s international bodies. Multilingual co-president, Michel Platini, welcomed the 172 delegations in eight languages, and secretary general of FIFA, Joseph Blatter, impeccable in his role of anchor man, also played his part in making this kick-off to FRANCE 98 a tremendous success applauded by the international press and the 1,200 guest personalities.

The preliminary competition will run from 1 March 1996 to 16 November 1997, and any play-offs will have to be settled before 30 November 1997, to decide which 30 countries will line up alongside automatic qualifiers Brazil and France at the Finals in 1998.