Liedjes Voetbal Steekspel 1997

This was the thirteenth Liedjes Voetbal Steekspel to be held. It took place around two years after the previous World Cup in 1993 following the change in format in 1987.

European Qualifiers were decided by the format of the Euro 1994 tournament. There are 16 qualifying spots up for grabs in this tournament. Other qualification rounds would be interlocked. Asia and Africa would hold similar style but smaller tournaments where the top 4 of the final stage had a chance at going through to the World Cup. The top 3 automatically qualify from each, but the fourth placers would compete in a playoff to decide the 7th spot in the World Cup. The North American and South American tournaments reflected this qualification method. North America was guaranteed 2 spots, with South America guaranteed 5 spots. The 3rd and 6th spots respectively would play in a playoff to decide the final 8th share spot between them. The final qualifier to the World Cup is the host nation which was Turkey, who had taken part in the European Qualifiers but failed to qualify from there.

There were no major boycotts of the tournament.

won the hosting rights to the 1995 contest in the 1990 vote. The final would be held in the largest city, Istanbul. This World Cup marked at that time the most amount of host bids ever. Which included:
 * , with the final in Paris
 * , with the final in Frankfurt
 * , with the final in Rome
 * , with the final in Moscow
 * ; ; joint bid, with the final in Warsaw
 * , with the final in Beijing
 * , with the final in Jakarta
 * , with the final in Kuala Lampur
 * , with the final in Tokyo
 * , with the final in Buenos Aires
 * , with the final in Sao Paulo
 * , with the final in Lima
 * , with the final in Mexico City

Europe
Following 's surprise success in the previous World Cup, interest immediately increased and old Yugoslav footballers tried to join the national team. A famous Serbo-Slovene striker actually defected from his team of to join Slovenia as he viewed them as the better team. Slovenia kept up their great momentum in the Euro 1988 coming 3rd and doing extremely well in international friendlies. Their best result being a 5 - 1 victory over in early 1989. Other Yugoslav teams were doing decently such as who reached the quarter finals of the Euros only losing to eventual winners, Norway. even saw decent results doing better than Hungary in the Euros but ultimately not qualifying. did worse than usual with players deserting and the manager having a terrible reputation. They still managed to qualify from the group of relegation but ultimately lost the Left Right Division Round only drawing once and not winning. Serbia also faired poorly in international friendlies losing against by 2 goals. This team, by the way, had done well despite being a team for only a couple of years by this point. They even secured qualification for the World Cup in the Euros and did well in friendlies. They actually qualified over other Czechoslovakian successor, the Czech Republic.

was still trying to ride it's success. It came 4th in the Euros and was doing decently well. They hoped for another World Cup victory to assert themselves as the country with the most titles. had been on a sharp decline but still qualified for the World Cup. managed to both win the World Cup and the Euros back to back and was hoping for the triple victory. They signed many new young players and was ambitious. Other nordic countries such as, and  saw major upticks of involvement with younger players and much better potentials. None of these nations qualify for the 1990 World Cup, but new players coming on in the Euros and after are preparing them for a great potential in the future. strived for a great future where they could continuously win semi finals confidently. They aimed for their first World Cup win with an exciting new squad. had been a sharp decline for the previous World Cups but their accomplished striker had just retired leaving a massive black hole. They qualified for the World Cup but many were wondered if this squad could actually perform well. was hoping to build off it's great successes in the Euros and aimed for a full World Cup victory.

Rest of the World
, after their humiliation at their own World Cup, tried to build up a great new squad under a new manager. They aimed for a better result and at least a qualification from the Group Stage if they got into the World Cup itself. had saw a noticeable improvement at the 1986 World Cup and hoped to improve that once again and aimed to qualify over their rivals Australia. saw good results and they aimed to qualify back to back. was very impressed with their previous display and hoped to qualify amid more competition. and hyped up their rivalry more but ultimately their goal was to secure qualification once again. , having been humiliated in the qualifiers for the World Cup in 1986 and wanting to host the 1993 tournament, stepped up it's game massively. Interest in young players increased and they assembled a new potential squad and manager role.

represents Africa in the tiebreak. This is the same as the 1986 Tiebreak after a loss to Guinea in the final group of the African qualifiers. They play the who represent Asia.

earns a slot of qualification beating out Cameroon. This continues the pattern of an Asian country winning 1982, then an African in 1986, and now an Asian in 1990. =World Cup 1990= Matchday 1 are on the following dates: 6th September 1993, 13th September 1993 and 20th September 1993.

Matchday 2 are on the following dates: 8th September 1993, 15th September 1993 and 22nd September 1993.

Matchday 3 are on the following dates: 10th September 1993, 17th September 1993 and 24th September 1993.

Tiebreaker playoffs will be played in the week of 27th September 1993 to 1st October 1993 if they are necessary.