1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the South American zone (CONMEBOL). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article "1998 FIFA World Cup qualification". A total of 10 CONMEBOL teams entered the competition. The South American zone was allocated 5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament. Brazil, the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 4 spots open for competition between 9 teams. This was the first World Cup qualifying competition to involve all of the yet-unqualified teams in the confederation playing
1998 FIFA World Cup squads Blažević Head coach: Renê Simões Head coach: Takeshi Okada The English, Spanish, Japanese and Saudi Arabian squads were made up entirely of players from the respective countries' domestic leagues. The Nigeria squad was made up entirely of players employed by foreign clubs. Only three teams, Japan, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, had no players from European clubs. Although Turkey and Portugal failed to qualify for the finals, their domestic leagues were represented by 18 and 9 players respectively: altogether, there were 38 national leagues who had players in the tournament. 1998 FIFA World Cup squads The 1998 FIFA World Cup was