1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup explained

Tourney Name:CONCACAF Gold Cup
Year:1998
Other Titles:CONCACAF Championship
Country:United States
Dates:February 1–15
Num Teams:10
Confederations:2
Venues:3
Cities:3
Champion:MEX
Count:3
Second:USA
Third:BRA
Fourth:JAM
Matches:16
Goals:44
Top Scorer: Luis Hernández
Paulo Wanchope
(4 goals each)
Player: Kasey Keller
Prevseason:1996
Nextseason:2000

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.[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 AngelesOaklandMiami
Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumOakland–Alameda County ColiseumOrange Bowl
Capacity: 93,607Capacity: 63,026Capacity: 74,476

Teams

Qualification

TeamQualificationAppearancesLast appearancePrevious best performanceFIFA Ranking[2]
North American zone
(TH)Automatic4th1996Champions (1993,1996)5
Automatic4th1996Champions (1991)28
Caribbean zone qualified through the 1997 Caribbean Cup
Winners3rd1996Group stage (1991, 1996)56
Third Place3rd1993Third Place (1993)39
Playoff1stNoneDebut88
Central American zone qualified through the 1997 UNCAF Nations Cup
Winners3rd1993Third Place (1993)51
Runners-up3rd1996Fourth Place (1996)83
Third Place 2nd1996Group stage (1996)64
Fourth Place 4th1996Runners-up (1991)73
Other
Invitation2nd1996Runners-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

See main article: 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

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Group B

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Group C

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Knockout stage

Bracket

Semi-finals

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Third place play-off

Final

See main article: 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup final.

Statistics

Goalscorers

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Source:[3]

PlayerPoints
1st Kasey Keller32
2nd Edmundo30
3rd Preki27

Team of the Tournament

Source:

Gold Cup XI!Goalkeeper!Defenders!Midfielders!Forwards
Kasey Keller Claudio Suárez Eddie Pope

Zé Maria

Ramón Ramírez

Preki Paul Hall

Cuauhtémoc Blanco

Edmundo Paulo Wanchope

Romário

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Davidson . Neil . November 26, 1997 . Canada looking to play host to group of World Cup finalists . E7 . . . . July 4, 2023.
  2. Web site: The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking . https://web.archive.org/web/20191021175159/https://es.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/rank/id46/ . dead . October 21, 2019 . FIFA . March 9, 2021 . December 23, 1997.
  3. Web site: CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 1998 - Full Details . 2024-06-06 . www.rsssf.org.