The 1998 Copa Merconorte was the 1st edition of association football tournament Copa Merconorte held in 1998. Atlético Nacional of Colombia beat Deportivo Cali also of Colombia in the final.
Originally, this tournament was to start on 1 September 1998 (the group stage lasting until 25 November), with 16 teams divided into 4 groups of 4. Those 16 teams included 3 Mexican teams, América, Cruz Azul and Guadalajara.
However, the Mexican Football Federation insisted on including Toluca and Necaxa, the two finalists of the 1998 Summer season, instead of América and Guadalajara, who had been chosen for their popular support. No agreement could be reached, and on 20 August the Mexican teams withdrew. The organization then decided to remove the two teams from the USA (D.C. United and Los Angeles Galaxy) as well, include a fourth Colombian team (América de Cali) and play with 3 groups of 4.
Participants CountryTeam(1 berth)The Strongest(4 berths)América de CaliAtlético NacionalDeportivo CaliMillonarios(3 berths)Barcelona El Nacional Emelec (3 berths)Alianza Lima Sporting Cristal Universitario (1 berth)Caracas
Group stage According to the original draw in march of 1998, these are the groups of competition:
Group A: Sporting Cristal, Emelec, Deportivo Cali and Guadalajara
Group B: América, Universitario, El Nacional and Atlético Nacional
Group C: Alianza Lima, Barcelona, Millonarios and D.C. United
Group D: The Strongest, Caracas, Cruz Azul and Los Angeles Galaxy
Each team played the other teams in the group twice during the group stage. The three group winners and the best runner-up advanced to the second round.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Ranking of second placed teams
Semifinals
First leg
Second leg
Finals
First leg
Second leg
Statistics Top scorers RankPlayerTeamTotal1 Héctor Ferri El Nacional4 Neider Morantes Atlético Nacional4 Rafael Castellín Caracas4 Héctor Hurtado América de Cali4 Carlos Alberto Juárez Emelec46 Víctor Bonilla Deportivo Cali3 Walter Escobar Deportivo Cali3 Carlos Vásquez Atlético Nacional3 Mauro Cantoro Universitario3 Jairo Castillo América de Cali3 Germán Carty Sporting Cristal3
References
External links 1998 Copa Merconorte game summaries 1998 Copa Merconorte stats