Group 2 consisted of five of the 50 teams entered into the European zone:Only 49 of the entered teams actually competed in the qualification tournament:

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

qualified for the World Cup automatically as host.

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. These five teams competed on a home-and-away basis for two of the 15 spots in the final tournament allocated to the European zone, with the group's winner and runner-up claiming those spots.

Standings

Results

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Goal scorers

;5 goals * Alan Shearer ;3 goals *

Teddy Sheringham Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham, MBE (born 2 April 1966) is an English football manager and former player. He played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, in a 24-year professional career. Sheringham began his career at Millwall, where ...

Fabrizio Ravanelli Fabrizio Ravanelli (; born 11 December 1968) is an Italian football manager and former international player. A former striker, Ravanelli started and ended his playing career at hometown club Perugia Calcio, and also played for Middlesbrough, ...

Andrzej Juskowiak Andrzej Mieczysław Juskowiak (born 3 November 1970) is a former Polish football striker who played for the Polish national team. International career Nicknamed "Jusko", he was a participant at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where Poland won the sil ...

;2 goals * Paul Gascoigne *

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...

Shota Arveladze Shota Arveladze ( ka, შოთა არველაძე; born 22 February 1973) is a Georgian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club Hull City. Arveladze played at Dinamo T ...

* Temuri Ketsbaia *

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...

Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea. He spent the first decade of his playing career playing i ...

;1 goal *

Nick Barmby Nicholas Jon Barmby (born 11 February 1974) is an English football coach and former professional player. As a player, he played as a midfielder spending nearly his entire career in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough, Evert ...

Les Ferdinand Leslie Ferdinand MBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and television pundit, who is currently the director of football at Queens Park Rangers. A striker, his playing career included notable sp ...

Paul Scholes Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 ...

Archil Arveladze Archil Arveladze ( ka, არჩილ არველაძე; born 22 February 1973) is a Georgian former professional footballer who played as a striker for various sides in Europe. Club career Born in Tbilisi, Arveladze spent his youth ca ...

Georgi Kinkladze Georgi Kinkladze ( ka, გიორგი ქინქლაძე, ; born 6 July 1973), also spelled Georgiou, or Giorgi, or shortened to Gio, is a Georgian former footballer who played as a playmaking midfielder. Born in the Georgian capital ...

Kakhaber Tskhadadze Kakhaber Tskhadadze ( ka, კახაბერ ცხადაძე; born 7 September 1968) is a Georgian football manager and former player. He is the manager of Kazakhstani club Caspiy. As a player he was defender who notably played in t ...

* Roberto Baggio *

Pierluigi Casiraghi Pierluigi Casiraghi (; born 4 March 1969) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Casiraghi began his playing career in Italy in 1985, with Monza. He later played for Juventus, and Lazio, before end ...

Roberto Di Matteo Roberto Di Matteo (; born 29 May 1970) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. During his playing career as a midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau before joining Lazio of Italy and Chels ...

Christian Vieri Christian "Bobo" Vieri (; born 12 July 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Having been born in Italy, Vieri moved with his family to Australia as a child, before returning to Italy to pursue his p ...

Serghei Cleşcenco Serghei is a Romanian-language male given name: * Serghei Alexeev * Serghei Cleșcenco * Serghei Covalciuc *Serghei Covaliov * Serghei Donico-Iordăchescu * Serghei Dubrovin * Serghei Gafina * Serghei Gheorghiev * Serghei Lașcencov * Serghei Margh ...

Alexandru Curtianu Alexandru Curtianu (born 11 February 1974) is a Moldovan professional football coach and a former player. He is the manager of Russian club Yadro St. Petersburg. Club career He made his professional debut in the Soviet First League in 1991 fo ...

* Henryk Bałuszyński *

Krzysztof Bukalski Krzysztof Bukalski is a retired Polish footballer playing lately for Górnik Zabrze. He was born 22 September 1970 in Kraków, Poland. He is a central midfielder. Krzysztof Bukalski is a former Polish national player. Clubs *trainee - Wanda N ...

* Marek Citko * Adam Ledwoń *

Krzysztof Nowak Krzysztof Nowak (; 27 September 1975 – 26 May 2005) was a Polish football player, best known for his stint with the VfL Wolfsburg team. Nowak began playing football in 1985. He slowly rose in prominence and in 1996 moved to Brazil with fellow ...

Mirosław Trzeciak Mirosław Wojciech Trzeciak (born 11 April 1968), nicknamed Franek, is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Football career Trzeciak was born in Koszalin. During his career, Trzeciak, a Gwardia Koszalin trainee, also ...

Krzysztof Warzycha Krzysztof Ireneusz Warzycha (, el, Κριστόφ Βαζέχα; born 17 November 1964) is a Greek-Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward for Ruch Chorzów and for Greek club Panathinaikos. At international level, he re ...

Notes

External links

Group 2 Detailed Results at RSSSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup) 1 1996–97 in English football 1997–98 in English football 1996–97 in Georgian football 1997–98 in Georgian football 1996–97 in Italian football 1997–98 in Italian football 1996–97 in Moldovan football 1997–98 in Moldovan football 1996–97 in Polish football 1997–98 in Polish football