View source for 1998 FIFA World Cup seeding

For the '''seeding of qualified teams at the [[1998 FIFA World Cup]]''', FIFA used the [[FIFA World Rankings]] in combination with performances of national teams in the three previous [[FIFA World Cup]]s.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20051220180757/http://www.fifa.com/wc/2002/draw/BusanDraw_All-1.pdf 2002 World Cup seeding document]</ref>

For the FIFA World Ranking part, points were allocated on the basis of 32 points for the highest ranked team of the [[1998 FIFA World Cup#List of qualified teams|32 qualified teams]] at the end of each preceding three years, down to 1 point for the lowest ranked team.

For the World Cup performance part, points were allocated as follows:

* Teams qualified for the knockout stages were ranked by their overall performance and received between 32 points (World Cup winner) and 17 points (the losing team in the Round of 16 with the worst overall performance).
* Teams eliminated in the group stage were ranked by their performance. The top half received 9 points, the rest 8 points.

The seedings table calculated a sum of points scored by each national team from the [[1986 FIFA World Cup]], [[1990 FIFA World Cup]] and the [[1994 FIFA World Cup]] averaged in a 1:2:3 ratio respectively, that finally got multiplied by a 1.2 [[weighting|weighting factor]] to account for 60% of the total sum of points. The seedings table also calculated a sum of points scored by each national team from the [[FIFA World Rankings]] at the three given dates December 1995, December 1996 and November 1997, averaged in a 1:1:1 ratio and finally multiplied by a 0.8 weighting factor to account for 40% of the total sum of points. The total points were finally the sum of these two calculated totals.<ref name="DrawProcedure">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/36285.stm|title=England miss out on World Cup seedings|publisher=BBC News|date=3 December 1997|access-date=28 June 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105112417/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/36285.stm|archive-date=5 November 2021}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
|-
!rowspan="3"|Seed!!rowspan="3"|Country!!colspan="7"|1. FIFA World Cup Finals!!colspan="7"|2. [[FIFA World Rankings]]!!rowspan="3"|Total points<br><small>(1+2)</small>
|-
!colspan="2"|A:<br>{{nowrap|[[1986 FIFA World Cup|Mexico 1986]]}}<br><small>(16.7%)</small>!!colspan="2"|B:<br>{{nowrap|[[1990 FIFA World Cup|Italy 1990]]}}<br><small>(33.3%)</small>!!colspan="2"|C:<br>{{nowrap|[[1994 FIFA World Cup|USA 1994]]}}<br><small>(50%)</small>!!rowspan="2"|Weighted<br> avg. points<br><small>{{nowrap|1.2*({{sfrac|1|6}}A+{{sfrac|1|3}}B+{{sfrac|1|2}}C)}}</small>!!colspan="2"|A:<br>Dec 1995<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.fifaranking.net/ranking/index.php?d=1995-12-19
|title=FIFA World Ranking as of Dec 1995|accessdate=16 May 2025}}</ref><br><small>(33.3%)</small>!!colspan="2"|B:<br>Dec 1996<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.fifaranking.net/ranking/index.php?d=1996-12-18
|title=FIFA World Ranking as of Dec 1996|accessdate=16 May 2025}}</ref><br><small>(33.3%)</small>!!colspan="2"|C:<br>Nov 1997<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.fifaranking.net/ranking/index.php?d=1997-11-19
|title=FIFA World Ranking as of Nov 1997|accessdate=16 May 2025}}</ref><br><small>(33.3%)</small>!!rowspan="2"|Weighted<br> avg. points<br><small>{{nowrap|0.8*({{sfrac|1|3}}A+{{sfrac|1|3}}B+{{sfrac|1|3}}C)}}</small> 
|-
!Rk!!Pt.!!Rk!!Pt.!!Rk!!Pt.!!Rk!!Pt.!!Rk!!Pt.!!Rk!!Pt.
|-
|1||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|GER}}||2||31||1||32||5||28||35.80||2||31||2||31||2||31||24.80||'''60.60'''
|-
|2||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|BRA}}||5||28||9||24||1||32||34.40||1||32||1||32||1||32||25.60||'''60.00'''
|-
|3||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|ITA}}||12||21||3||30||2||31||34.80||3||30||10||25||10||24||21.07||'''55.87'''
|-
|4||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|ESP}}||7||26||10||23||8||25||29.40||4||29||8||27||3||30||22.93||'''52.33'''
|-
|5||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|ARG}}||1||32||2||31||10||23||32.60||7||27||22||16||19||17||16.00||'''48.60'''
|-
|6||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|ROU}}||-||0||12||21||6||27||24.60||11||23||16||20||5||29||19.20||'''43.80'''
|-
|7||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|NED}}||-||0||15||18||7||26||22.80||6||28||9||26||12||22||20.27||'''43.07'''
|-
|8||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|MEX}}||6||27||-||0||13||20||17.40||12||22||11||24||11||23||18.40||'''35.80'''
|-
|9||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|BUL}}||15||18||-||0||4||29||21.00||17||20||15||21||24||13||14.40||'''35.40'''
|-
|10||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|ENG}}||8||25||4||29||-||0||16.60||21||18||12||23||6||28||18.40||'''35.00'''
|-
|11||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|BEL}}||4||29||11||22||11||22||27.80||24||16||42||6||41||4||6.93||'''34.73'''
|-
|12||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|COL}}||-||0||14||19||19||9||13.00||15||21||4||29||9||25||20.00||'''33.00'''
|-
|13||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|FRA}}||3||30||-||0||-||0||6.00||8||26||3||30||7||27||22.13||'''28.13'''
|-
|14||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|USA}}||-||0||23||8||14||19||14.60||19||19||18||19||29||11||13.07||'''27.67'''
|-
|15||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|DEN}}||9||24||-||0||-||0||4.80||9||25||6||28||8||26||21.07||'''25.87'''
|-
|16||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|NOR}}||-||0||-||0||17||9||5.40||10||24||14||22||14||21||17.87||'''23.27'''
|-
|17||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|MAR}}||11||22||-||0||23||8||9.20||38||10||27||12||16||20||11.20||'''20.40'''
|-
|18||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|CMR}}||-||0||7||26||22||8||15.20||37||11||56||3||51||2||4.27||'''19.47'''
|-
|19||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|NGA}}||-||0||-||0||9||24||14.40||27||14||63||2||71||1||4.53||'''18.93'''
|-
|20||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|KSA}}||-||0||-||0||12||21||12.60||54||5||37||8||34||8||5.60||'''18.20'''
|-
|21||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|FR Yugoslavia}}||-||0||5||28||-||0||11.20||68||2||55||4||22||15||5.60||'''16.80'''
|-
|22||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|KOR|1997}}||20||9||22||8||20||9||10.40||46||6||44||5||31||9||5.33||'''15.73'''
|-
|23||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|SCO|1542}}||19||9||20||9||-||0||5.40||26||15||29||11||36||6||8.53||'''13.93'''
|-
|24||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|JPN|1947}}||-||0||-||0||-||0||0.00||31||13||21||17||18||18||12.80||'''12.80'''
|-
|25||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|TUN|1959}}||-||0||-||0||-||0||0.00||22||17||23||15||23||14||12.27||'''12.27'''
|-
|26||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|CHI}}||-||0||-||0||-||0||0.00||36||12||26||13||17||19||11.73||'''11.73'''
|-
|27||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|AUT}}||-||0||18||9||-||0||3.60||39||9||34||9||26||12||8.00||'''11.60'''
|-
|28||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|CRO}}||-||0||-||0||-||0||0.00||41||7||24||14||21||16||9.87||'''9.87'''
|-
|29||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|PAR|1990}}||13||20||-||0||-||0||4.00||64||3||38||7||30||10||5.33||'''9.33'''
|-
|30||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|RSA}}||-||0||-||0||-||0||0.00||40||8||19||18||35||7||8.80||'''8.80'''
|-
|31||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|JAM}}||-||0||-||0||-||0||0.00||56||4||32||10||39||5||5.07||'''5.07'''
|-
|32||style="text-align:left"|{{fb|IRN}}||-||0||-||0||-||0||0.00||108||1||83||1||50||3||1.33||'''1.33'''
|-
!rowspan="3"|Seed!!rowspan="3"|Country!!Rk!!Pt.!!Rk!!Pt.!!Rk!!Pt.!!rowspan="2"|Weighted<br> avg. points<br><small>{{nowrap|1.2*({{sfrac|1|6}}A+{{sfrac|1|3}}B+{{sfrac|1|2}}C)}}</small>!!Rk!!Pt.!!Rk!!Pt.!!Rk!!Pt.!!rowspan="2"|Weighted<br> avg. points<br><small>{{nowrap|0.8*({{sfrac|1|3}}A+{{sfrac|1|3}}B+{{sfrac|1|3}}C)}}</small>!!rowspan="3"|Total points<br><small>(1+2)</small>
|-
!colspan="2"|A:<br>{{nowrap|[[1986 FIFA World Cup|Mexico 1986]]}}<br><small>(16.7%)</small>!!colspan="2"|B:<br>{{nowrap|[[1990 FIFA World Cup|Italy 1990]]}}<br><small>(33.3%)</small>!!colspan="2"|C:<br>{{nowrap|[[1994 FIFA World Cup|USA 1994]]}}<br><small>(50%)</small>!!colspan="2"|A:<br>Dec 1995<br><small>(33.3%)</small>!!colspan="2"|B:<br>Dec 1996<br><small>(33.3%)</small>!!colspan="2"|C:<br>Nov 1997<br><small>(33.3%)</small>
|-
!colspan="7"|1. FIFA World Cup Finals!!colspan="7"|2. [[FIFA World Rankings]]
|-
|}

[[France national football team|France]] were seeded as hosts, [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]] as defending champions. The other seeds were: [[Germany national football team|Germany]], [[Italy national football team|Italy]], [[Spain national football team|Spain]], [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]], [[Romania national football team|Romania]], and the [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]].

==Broadcasting== 
The 1998 FIFA World Cup seeding are broadcast live on [[TF1]], [[France Television]] and [[Canal+ (French TV channel)|Canal+]] in France.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{1998 FIFA World Cup}}
{{1998 FIFA World Cup stadiums}}
{{FIFA World Cup}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998 Fifa World Cup Seeding}}
[[Category:1998 FIFA World Cup|Seeding]]
[[Category:FIFA World Cup seeding]]