1998 South American Women's Football Championship Explained

Tourney Name:	South American Women's Football Championship
Year:	1998
Other Titles:	Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol Femenino de 1998
Dates:	1–15 March
Country:	Argentina
Num Teams:	10
Confederations:	1
Venues:	1
Cities:	1
Count:	3
Matches:	24
Goals:	143
Top Scorer:	Roseli (16 goals)
Fair Play:	^[1]
Prevseason:	1995
Nextseason:	2003

The 1998 South American Women's Football Championship (Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol Femenino 1998) was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina between 1 & 15 March. It was the third staging of the Sudamericano Femenino and determined the CONMEBOL's qualifiers for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.

This was the first Sudamericano Femenino to feature all 10 CONMEBOL confederations' women's national teams. Brazil won the tournament for the third time after beating Argentina 7–1 in the final. Brazil qualified directly to the Women's World Cup and Argentina faced Mexico in two play-off matches for qualification.

Argentina was confirmed as hosts in November 1997.^[2]

Venue

The only venue used for the tournament was the Estadio José María Minella, located in Mar del Plata.

Mar del Plata
Estadio José María Minella
Capacity: 35.354

Officials

The following referees were named for the tournament:

Claudio Martín
Edgar Solíz
Rubén Selman
Martha Toro
Rafael Jarrín
Oliver Viera

Results

The ten teams were divided into two groups of five teams each. The top two teams in the groups advanced to the semi-finals. The winner of the tournament qualified for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup in the United States.

Three points were awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss.

Tie-breaker
- If teams finish leveled on points, the following tie-breakers are used:
1. greater goal difference in all group games;
2. greater number of goals scored in all group games;
3. winner of the head-to-head match between the teams in question;
4. drawing of lots.

Group stage

Group A

width=200	Team	width=20 abbr="Played"	Pld	width=20 abbr="Won"	W	width=20 abbr="Drawn"	D	width=20 abbr="Lost"	L	width=20 abbr="Goals for"	GF	width=20 abbr="Goals against"	GA	width=20 abbr="Goal difference"	GD	width=20 abbr="Points"	Pts
	4	4	0	0	48	1	+47	12
	4	3	0	1	5	17	–12	9
	4	2	0	2	11	16	–5	6
	4	1	0	3	6	13	–7	3
	4	0	0	4	2	25	–23	0

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Group B

width=200	Team	width=20 abbr="Played"	Pld	width=20 abbr="Won"	W	width=20 abbr="Drawn"	D	width=20 abbr="Lost"	L	width=20 abbr="Goals for"	GF	width=20 abbr="Goals against"	GA	width=20 abbr="Goal difference"	GD	width=20 abbr="Points"	Pts
	4	4	0	0	16	1	+15	12
	4	2	1	1	10	6	+4	7
	4	2	0	2	6	10	–4	6
	4	0	2	2	6	8	–2	2
	4	0	1	3	5	18	–13	1

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Knockout stage

Final

Brazil won the tournament and qualified for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. Argentina advanced to the CONMEBOL/CONCACAF Intercontinental play-off.