The 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, CONCACAF zone ran from March 1996 to November 1997 in order to determine the three CONCACAF representatives at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. For an overview of the qualification rounds, see 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification.

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Quick Facts Tournament details, Dates ...

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

Tournament details
Dates	March 24th 1996 - November 16th 1997
Teams	28[1] (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	98
Goals scored	295 (3.01 per match)
Attendance	2,065,454 (21,076 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Carlos Hermosillo (11 Goals)
← 1994 2002 →

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A total of 30 CONCACAF teams entered the competition. Mexico, the USA, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Canada, the six highest-ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the third round directly. The remaining 24 teams were divided into two zones, based on geographical locations.

• Caribbean Zone: The 20 teams played in three rounds of knockout matches on a home-and-away basis to determine four winners advancing to the third round. Bahamas and Bermuda withdrew before playing one game. 18 countries stay in the race.
• Central American Zone: The four teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the third round.

In the third round, the 12 teams were divided into three groups of four teams each. They played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners and runners-up would advance to the final round.

In the final round, the six teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The top three teams would qualify.

More information Pos, Team ...

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Mexico	10	4	6	0	23	7	16	18
2	United States	10	4	5	1	17	9	8	17
3	Jamaica	10	3	5	2	7	12	–5	14
4	Costa Rica	10	3	3	4	13	12	1	12
5	El Salvador	10	2	4	4	11	16	–5	10
6	Canada	10	1	3	6	5	20	–15	6

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• Mexico, the United States, and Jamaica qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

The following three teams from CONCACAF qualified for the final tournament.

More information Team, Qualified as ...

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
Mexico	Fourth round winners	12 October 1997	10 (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994)
United States	Fourth round runners-up	9 November 1997	5 (1930, 1934, 1950, 1990, 1994)
Jamaica	Fourth round third place	16 November 1997	0 (debut)

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¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

There were 295 goals scored in 98 matches, for an average of 3.01 goals per match.