1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup
# 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup

The 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fourth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship for the member associations of CONCACAF, which governs the sport in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

The tournament was once again held in the United States, with matches played in Los Angeles, Miami, and Oakland, California. The format of the tournament changed from 1996: it was expanded to ten teams, with four in Group A and three each in Groups B and C. The top team in each group, plus the second place in Group A would advance to the semifinals. Brazil was invited again, and brought their senior team this time. Prior to the tournament, Canada withdrew due to a lack of available players and were replaced by Jamaica.

Jamaica topped Group A over Brazil, who they tied 0–0, in a surprise result for the team. In the semi-finals, the United States beat Brazil, as Preki scored the lone goal and Kasey Keller preserved the clean sheet. The United States could not repeat that performance in front of a pro-Mexican final crowd in Los Angeles. Mexico won their third straight Gold Cup, 1–0, on a Luis Hernández goal.

## Venues

| Los Angeles | Oakland | Miami |
| - | - | - |
| Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | Orange Bowl |
| Capacity: 93,607 | Capacity: 63,026 | Capacity: 74,476 |
| OaklandLos AngelesMiami |||

## Teams

### Qualification

| Team | Qualification | Appearances | Last appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA Ranking |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| North American zone ||||||
| Mexico (TH) | Automatic | 4th | 1996 | Champions (1993,1996) | 5 |
| United States | Automatic | 4th | 1996 | Champions (1991) | 28 |
| Caribbean zone qualified through the 1997 Caribbean Cup ||||||
| Trinidad and Tobago | Winners | 3rd | 1996 | Group stage (1991, 1996) | 56 |
| Jamaica | Third Place | 3rd | 1993 | Third Place (1993) | 39 |
| Cuba | Playoff | 1st | None | Debut | 88 |
| Central American zone qualified through the 1997 UNCAF Nations Cup ||||||
| Costa Rica | Winners | 3rd | 1993 | Third Place (1993) | 51 |
| Guatemala | Runners-up | 3rd | 1996 | Fourth Place (1996) | 83 |
| El Salvador | Third Place | 2nd | 1996 | Group stage (1996) | 64 |
| Honduras | Fourth Place | 4th | 1996 | Runners-up (1991) | 73 |
| Other ||||||
| Brazil | Invitation | 2nd | 1996 | Runners-up (1996) | 1 |

Notes:

* ↑ Canada withdrew and was replaced by Jamaica on November 26, 1997.

**Qualification play-off**

A playoff between Cuba, the runner-up from the 1996 Caribbean Cup and Saint Kitts and Nevis, the runner-up from the 1997 Caribbean Cup, was held to determine which nation would qualify for the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

### Squads

The 10 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 20 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament.

## Group stage

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Jamaica | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 2 | Brazil | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 5 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 3 | Guatemala | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | El Salvador | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 1 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Mexico | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 6 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 2 | Trinidad and Tobago | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | Honduras | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | United States | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 2 | Costa Rica | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 3 | |
| 3 | Cuba | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | −8 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage

### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - |
| February 10 – Los Angeles | February 10 – Los Angeles |
| United States | 1 |
| United States | 1 | February 15 – Los Angeles | February 15 – Los Angeles |
| Brazil | 0 | February 15 – Los Angeles | February 15 – Los Angeles |
| Brazil | 0 | United States | 0 |
| February 12 – Los Angeles | February 12 – Los Angeles | | United States | 0 |
| February 12 – Los Angeles | February 12 – Los Angeles | Mexico | 1 |
| Jamaica | 0 | Mexico | 1 |
| Mexico (a.s.d.e.t.) | 1 | | |
| Mexico (a.s.d.e.t.) | 1 | Third place play-off | Third place play-off |
| | | February 15 – Los Angeles | February 15 – Los Angeles |
| | | Brazil | 1 |
| | | Jamaica | 0 |

## Statistics

### Goalscorers

There were 44 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 2.75 goals per match.

4 goals

* Paulo Wanchope
* Luis Hernández

3 goals

* Romário

2 goals

* Giovane Élber
* Juan Carlos Plata
* Paul Hall
* Cuauhtémoc Blanco
* Stern John
* Jerren Nixon
* Preki

1 goal

* Edmundo
* Austin Berry (footballer)
* Wilmer López
* Roy Myers
* Allan Oviedo
* Luis Martén
* Eduardo Sebrango
* Edwin Westphal
* Carlos Pavón
* Marcus Gayle
* Fitzroy Simpson
* Andy Williams
* Ramón Ramírez
* Francisco Palencia
* Clint Marcelle
* Joe-Max Moore
* Eddie Pope
* Roy Wegerle
* Eric Wynalda

## Awards

The following Gold Cup awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament: the Golden Boot (top scorer) and Golden Ball (best overall player).

* Golden Ball
* Kasey Keller
* Golden Boot
* Luis Hernández
* 4 goals

Best XI :

| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| - | - | - | - |
| Kasey Keller | Eddie Pope Claudio Suárez Ze María | Ramón Ramírez Preki Paul Hall Cuauhtémoc Blanco | Edmundo Romário Paulo Wanchope |
