FIFA : Road to World Cup 98

FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 for PlayStation is EA Sports’ 1997 football game, developed by EA Canada during the build-up to France ’98. Often shortened to FIFA 98, it is the fifth main entry in the FIFA series and places the international qualifying campaign at the centre of its season. The PlayStation release combines national-team football with licensed club competition, using polygonal 3D matches, broadcast-style presentation, and a broad selection of teams for a late-1990s console sports game.

The central Road to World Cup mode lets a player choose a country and attempt to reach the 1998 FIFA World Cup through the appropriate qualification route before proceeding to the finals. Its roster of 172 FIFA-affiliated national sides includes the teams involved in the qualifying picture, including France as host and Brazil as the previous tournament’s holder. Qualification formats vary by region, so a campaign is more than a single knockout bracket: results across a group schedule can determine whether a nation advances.

On the pitch, FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 uses a third-person broadcast angle and direct control of the selected footballer. Players move the ball through ground passes, lofted deliveries, shots, headers, tackles, and goalkeeper play, while a switching indicator helps move control between teammates. Match options allow adjustments to difficulty, duration, and other rules before kick-off. The PlayStation version also applies offside more selectively than earlier FIFA games, calling it when a player receives a forward pass from an offside position rather than simply for standing ahead of play.

Outside the World Cup route, FIFA 98 offers friendly matches, league play, penalty-kick shootouts, and training. League competition covers 11 leagues and 189 clubs, offering a club alternative to the national sides. An indoor five-a-side option changes the atmosphere and confines the action to a smaller enclosed pitch. The game also includes team and player editing, allowing squads and player information to be adjusted within the game, and its local multiplayer support makes exhibition matches and shootouts suitable for shared PlayStation sessions.

EA Canada built the game from the technology behind FIFA Soccer 97 while expanding its animation and presentation. David Ginola provided motion-capture work, and players were given more individualized faces and hair than in the earlier game. Sixteen outdoor stadiums, weather effects, crowd chants associated with teams, an introduction from Des Lynam, and match commentary by John Motson and Andy Gray frame the action as a televised football event. The licensed soundtrack is equally tied to the era, with Blur’s “Song 2” serving as the theme alongside tracks by The Crystal Method and Electric Skychurch.

FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 arrived on PlayStation alongside versions for Windows, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, Super NES, and Mega Drive/Genesis; its 3D console editions share the game’s broad international scope, while the Game Boy release is a separate, more limited adaptation. It should not be confused with EA’s later World Cup 98 game, which focuses on the finals tournament and was released in 1998. For PlayStation football fans, FIFA 98 stands as a snapshot of the 1997–98 season: a game built around the long route to the World Cup as well as club leagues, customizable squads, indoor matches, and couch competition.