With France qualifying for the finals as World champions, fifty member countries will battle it out for the remaining European places at the finals in Korea/Japan.

Either 13 or 14 other countries will qualify from the European qualifying competition, which is made up of four groups of five teams and five groups of six teams with the teams in each group playing each other home and away.

The nine group winners will automatically qualify for the final competition.

The nine countries finishing second in their respective groups, will then have their names entered into a draw with four European pairings playing each other home and away. The winners will qualify for the final competition. The first leg of the play off will be played on 10th November with the return match on the 14th November 2001.

The remaining European team will then play the third placed Asian team home and away, with winners gaining a place in the final competition.