Each team was required to submit a squad of 22 players – numbered sequentially from 1 to 22 – from whom they would select their teams for each match at the tournament, with the final squads to be submitted by 1 June 1998. In total, 704 players were selected for the tournament.It featured players born in four different decades, the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s and the 1980s. The only other times this has happened at a World Cup was in the 1958, 1970 and 1990 editions.Players’ ages as of 10 June 1998, the tournament’s opening day.
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men’s national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the second time that France staged the competition (the first was in 1938) and the ninth time that it was held in Europe. Spanning 32 days, it is the longest World Cup tournament ever held.
