FIFA Confederations Cup to participate in the tournament. Germany did so twice, in 1997 (replaced by Euro 1996 runners-up Czech Republic) and in 2003 when Germany were awarded a place as the 2002 World Cup runners-up, replaced by the third-placed team Turkey. World champions France declined a place in the 1999 Confederations Cup, replaced by Brazil, the 1998 World Cup runners-up. Italy, UEFA Euro 2000 runners up, declined their place in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. An earlier tournament that invited former World Cup winners, the Mundialito, celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the first World Cup. The Artemio Franchi Trophy, contested in 1985
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) divided into six pools as shown in table below (November 1995 rankings shown in brackets). The national teams which eventually qualified for the final tournament are presented in bold and the national teams who took part in the play-offs are presented in "italic". Record against the 1st, 3rd and 4th-placed team in their groups. The following 15 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament. 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone (UEFA). A total of 50 UEFA teams entered the competition;