| Club: | Cosmos |
| Season: | 1978 |
| Manager: |  Eddie Firmani[1] |
| Stadium: | Giants Stadium |
| League: | NASL |
| League Result: | Division: 1st Overall: 1st Playoffs: Champions |
| Cup1: | National Challenge Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | Did not enter |
| Cup2: | CONCACAF Champions' Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Did not enter |
| League Topscorer: | Giorgio Chinaglia (34? goals) |
| Season Topscorer: | Giorgio Chinaglia (goals) |
| Highest Attendance: | 74,901 vs. TB (August 27) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 26,325 vs. BJR (September 9) |
| Average Attendance: | 47,856[2] |
| Pattern La1: | _greenborder |
| Pattern B1: | _collargreen |
| Pattern Ra1: | _greenborder |
| Leftarm1: | FFFFFF |
| Body1: | FFFFFF |
| Rightarm1: | FFFFFF |
| Shorts1: | FFFFFF |
| Socks1: | FFFFFF |
| Pattern La2: | _whiteborder |
| Pattern B2: | _collarwhite |
| Pattern Ra2: | _whiteborder |
| Leftarm2: | 006600 |
| Body2: | 006600 |
| Rightarm2: | 006600 |
| Shorts2: | ffffff |
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| American: | true |
| Prevseason: | 1977 |
| Nextseason: | 1979 |
The 1978 New York Cosmos season was the eighth season for the Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. It was also the second and final year in which "New York" was dropped from their name. The double-winning club set records for most wins and points in an NASL season, thanks to their 24-6 regular-season mark (shared with the Vancouver Whitecaps) and 212 points, securing their second premiership on the way to their third championship. They beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 7–0 on opening day[3] and never looked back, scoring 88 times while losing just three games in regulation. Giorgio Chinaglia scored 34 goals and 79 points, setting league records in the process. In Soccer Bowl '78, the Cosmos defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies in front of 74,901 fans at Giants Stadium, still to this day a record for attendance at a North American championship soccer game.
Source:[4]
Source:[5]
Pld = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored (up to three per game).
| width=30 | Pos | Club | width=30 | Pld | width=30 | W | width=30 | L | width=30 | GF | width=30 | GA | width=30 | GD | width=30 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | Cosmos | 30 | 24 | 6 | 88 | 39 | +49 | 212 | |||||||
| 2 | align=left | Washington Diplomats | 30 | 16 | 14 | 55 | 47 | +8 | 145 | |||||||
| 3 | align=left | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 30 | 16 | 14 | 58 | 47 | +11 | 144 | |||||||
| 4 | align=left | Rochester Lancers | 30 | 14 | 16 | 47 | 52 | -5 | 131 | |||||||
| width=30 | Pos | Club | width=30 | Pld | width=30 | W | width=30 | L | width=30 | GF | width=30 | GA | width=30 | GD | width=30 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | Cosmos | 30 | 24 | 6 | 88 | 39 | +49 | 212 | |||||||
| 2 | align=left | Vancouver Whitecaps | 30 | 24 | 6 | 68 | 29 | +39 | 199 | |||||||
| 3 | align=left | Detroit Express | 30 | 20 | 10 | 68 | 36 | +32 | 176 | |||||||
| 4 | align=left | Portland Timbers | 30 | 20 | 10 | 50 | 36 | +14 | 167 | |||||||
| 5 | align=left | New England Tea Men | 30 | 19 | 11 | 62 | 39 | +23 | 165 | |||||||
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2 | A | 2–0 | 300 | [7] | |||
| March 5 | A | 4–1 | 7,000 | Grgurev, Chinaglia (2), Tueart | |||
| March 8 |  Bermuda U-23 | A | 3–0 | 4,000 | |||
| March 11 | A | 4–1 | 5,000 | ||||
| March 22 | H | 11–0 | n/a | ||||
| Apr 4 | A | 0–0 | 15,000 | – | |||
| August 30 | H | 2–2 | 50,757 | ||||
| September 4 | H | 1–3 | 35,140 | [8] | |||
| September 9 | H | 2–2 | 23,000 | Chinaglia (2) | [9] | ||
| September 12 | A | 1–7 | 75,000 | ||||
| September 14 | A | 2–1 | 30,000 | ||||
| September 19 | A | 1–6 | 55,000 | ||||
| September 21 | A | 0–2 | 18,000 | ||||
| September 26 | A | 1–1 | 39,659 | ||||
| October 1 | A | 3–2 | 45,000 | ||||
| October 4 | A | 5–3 | n/a | ||||
| October 9 | A | 4–6 | 23,500 | ||||
| November 1 | A | 1–1 | 50,000 | ||||
| November 3 | A | 1–2 | n/a | ||||
| November 7 | A | 1–1 | n/a | ||||
| November 13 | A | 2–1 | |||||
| November 16 | A | 2–4 | 35,000 | Chinaglia, Seninho | |||
| November 18 | A | 0–2 | n/a | ||||
| November 22 | A | 3–2 | 25,000 |