1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup
4th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup
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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.
| CONCACAF Championship | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | February 1–15 |
| Teams | 10 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venue | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Mexico (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  United States |
| Third place |  Brazil |
| Fourth place |  Jamaica |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 44 (2.75 per match) |
| Attendance | 573,586 (35,849 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Luis Hernández Paulo Wanchope(4 goals each) |
| Best player | Kasey Keller |
← 1996 2000 → | |
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.[1]
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 |
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 |
 |
Teams
Qualification
| Team | Qualification | Appearances | Last appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA Ranking[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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[pn 1] |
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:
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 | |
| 3 | Guatemala |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | El Salvador |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 1 |
| Jamaica | 2–0 | El Salvador |
|---|---|---|
Gayle  41'Simpson 62' |
Report |
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 |
| United States | 2–1 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Pope 7' Preki 78' |
Report | Oviedo 56' |
Knockout stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| February 10 – Los Angeles | ||||||
| United States | 1 | |||||
| February 15 – Los Angeles | ||||||
| Brazil | 0 | |||||
| United States | 0 | |||||
| February 12 – Los Angeles | ||||||
| Mexico | 1 | |||||
| Jamaica | 0 | |||||
| Mexico (a.s.d.e.t.) | 1 | |||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| February 15 – Los Angeles | ||||||
| Brazil | 1 | |||||
| Jamaica | 0 | |||||
Semi-finals
| United States | 1–0 | Brazil |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Third place play-off
Final
| United States | 0–1 | Mexico |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Statistics
Goalscorers
There were 44 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 2.75 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Awards
Most Valuable Player
Source:[3]
| # | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kasey Keller |
32 |
| 2nd | Edmundo |
30 |
| 3rd | Preki |
27 |
Team of the Tournament
Source:[3]
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kasey Keller |
Claudio Suárez
|
Preki
|
Edmundo
|