Thirty-two teams competed in the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals tournament.
The tournament in France was the first World Cup to expand from 24 finalists to 32. The expansion created eight groups of four teams, with the top two in each group advancing to a 16-team knockout stage.
France won the title on home soil, defeating Brazil 3–0 in the final at the Stade de France. The expanded format allowed more national teams to reach the finals while preserving a straightforward group-and-knockout structure.
The 32-team format continued through the 2022 World Cup. It is distinct from the 2026 tournament, which is scheduled to feature 48 teams. Another common mix-up is counting only the 16 knockout-stage teams rather than all 32 teams that entered the finals tournament.