2018 FIFA World Cup Final 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup due to the ongoing project. The renovation project cost €341 million, and the stadium officially reopened with an international friendly between Russia and Argentina on 11 November 2017. After Uruguay and Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals, a European side was ensured to win the World Cup for a fourth consecutive tournament. The match was also the ninth all-European World Cup final, which most recently occurred in 2006 and 2010. The match was the third World Cup final for France, first appearing in the 1998 final as hosts, winning 3–0 against reigning champions Brazil. France also
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification nation and defending champions, respectively. The remaining 30 places were determined by a qualification process, in which the other 174 teams, from the six FIFA confederations, competed. "12 of the 32 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 2002 finals: Austria, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Iran, Jamaica, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Scotland and Yugoslavia." The distribution by confederation for the 1998 FIFA World Cup was: A total of 36 teams entered the competition. The Asian zone was allocated 3.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament. There were three rounds of play: A total of 38 CAF teams entered the