A qualification round was installed in the tournament for the first time. With Nigeria qualifying automatically as hosts, the remaining seven spots were determined by a qualification round and a play-off round which took place between March and April 1998.
First leg: {{Football box
Second leg: {{football box
Mozambique won 7–2 on aggregate and qualified for
the main tournament. ---- {{football box {{football box
South Africa won 15–0 on aggregate and qualified for
the main tournament. ---- {{football box {{football box
Egypt won 2–1 on aggregate and qualified for
the main tournament. ---- {{football box {{football box
Ghana won 19–0 on aggregate and qualified for
the main tournament. ---- {{football box
DR Congo won by default and qualified for
the main tournament. ---- {{football box
Cameroon won by default and qualified for
the main tournament. ---- {{football box
Morocco won by default and qualified for
the main tournament.
Qualified teams DR Congo,
Egypt and
Morocco made their debuts in the tournament at this edition.
Mozambique failed to arrive for the tournament despite qualifying with
Lesotho as its late replacement for Mozambique, also failing to show up. ==Venues==