Following ongoing discussions concerning the 1999 Confederations Cup, FIFA has announced that Germany will replace World Cup champion France in the eight-team field. The tournament, now slated for July 24-Aug. 4, 1999 in Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico, pits the top teams in each of FIFA’s six confederations. The schedule change directly affects the United States, which was set to play France as part of the Group B schedule. As it now stands, the U.S. will face New Zealand, Brazil and Germany in group play. Germany qualified to represent Europe as the current European Champions (1996) after defeating the Czech Republic in the final in London. All three of the USA’s matches — and the entire Group B schedule — will be played at the Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara. The matches in Group A, which will be contested by Mexico, Egypt, Bolivia and Saudi Arabia, will take place at the Guillermo Canedo Stadium in Mexico City. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals. The U.S. national team will now be playing Germany twice in 1999, as a full-international match between the two nations had already been set for Feb. 6 at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The match will be the first for the U.S. on home soil in 1999 and the first in Jacksonville since an exciting 2-1 U.S. victory over Israel on June 17, 1997. The U.S. men will open 1999 with matches versus Bolivia (Jan. 24 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia), Germany (Feb. 6 in Jacksonville, Fla.) and Chile (Feb. 21 in Ft. Lauderdale).