1998 in Paraguayan football

The following article presents a summary of the 1998 football (soccer) season in Paraguay.

First division results edit

Torneo Apertura edit

The Apertura tournament was played in a single all-play-all system. At the end, the top eight teams qualified to a playoff stage to determine the Apertura champion.

Position Team Played Wins Draws Losses Scored Conceded Points
1 Cerro Porteño 11 8 1 2 24 10 25
2 Sportivo Luqueño 11 6 3 2 17 16 21
3 Olimpia 11 6 2 3 15 7 20
4 Presidente Hayes 11 4 4 3 11 10 16
5 Guaraní 11 4 3 4 11 13 15
6 12 de Octubre 11 4 2 5 14 15 14
7 Sol de América 11 3 4 4 12 15 13
8 Cerro Corá 11 3 3 5 15 18 12
9 Atl. Colegiales 11 3 3 5 10 14 12
10 San Lorenzo 11 3 3 5 12 17 12
11 Nacional 11 2 4 5 18 20 10
12 Libertad 11 2 4 5 8 12 10

Apertura playoff stage edit

The top eight teams qualified to this stage and were given bonus points based on their final standing in the table. Two groups of four teams were made, with the top two of each group advancing to a playoff stage.

Group stage edit

Group A

Position Team Played Wins Draws Losses Scored Conceded Bonus Points Points
1 Olimpia 3 2 0 1 7 2 [2] 8
2 Sol de América 3 2 0 1 6 5 [0] 6
3 Guaraní 3 1 1 1 5 6 [1] 5
4 Sportivo Luqueño 3 0 1 2 3 8 [2.5] 3.5

Group B

Position Team Played Wins Draws Losses Scored Conceded Bonus Points Points
1 Cerro Porteño 3 3 0 0 10 2 [3] 12
2 12 de Octubre 3 1 1 1 4 6 [0.5] 4.5
3 Cerro Corá 3 1 1 1 3 4 [0] 4
4 Presidente Hayes 3 0 0 3 2 7 [1.5] 1.5
Semifinals edit
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Olimpia 4 - 2 12 de Octubre 3-1 1-1
Sol de América 1 - 1
(7 - 6 P.K.)
Cerro Porteño 1-0 0-1
Apertura final edit
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Olimpia 3 - 1 Sol de América 2-0 1-1

Olimpia wins the Apertura tournament final by aggregate score of 3-1.

Torneo Clausura edit

The Clausura tournament was played in a single all-play-all system. At the end, the top eight teams qualified to a playoff stage to determine the Clausura champion.

Position Team Played Wins Draws Losses Scored Conceded Points
1 Cerro Porteño 11 8 2 1 28 9 26
2 Guaraní 11 6 3 2 20 15 21
3 Cerro Corá 11 5 3 3 18 16 18
4 Atl. Colegiales 11 5 1 5 14 15 16
5 12 de Octubre 11 4 3 4 18 20 15
6 Sol de América 11 2 7 2 12 10 13
7 * Nacional 11 2 7 2 17 23 13
8 Olimpia 11 3 3 5 13 12 12
9 San Lorenzo 11 2 5 4 13 16 11
10 Sportivo Luqueño 11 2 5 4 8 13 11
11 Libertad 11 1 6 4 12 18 9
12 Presidente Hayes 11 1 5 5 12 18 8

* Nacional finished in the top eight but their average points over three years forced the team to be relegated so they did not take part of the playoff stage. San Lorenzo took their place instead.

Clausura playoff stage edit

The top eight teams qualified to this stage and were given bonus points based on their final standing in the table. Two groups of four teams were made, with the top two of each group advancing to a playoff stage. San Lorenzo replaced Nacional in the playoff stage due to Nacional being relegated to the second division.

Group stage edit

Group A

Position Team Played Wins Draws Losses Scored Conceded Bonus Points Points
1 Cerro Porteño 3 3 0 0 7 3 [3] 12
2 Atlético Colegiales 3 1 1 1 4 3 [1.5] 5.5
3 San Lorenzo 3 1 0 2 6 7 [0] 3
4 Sol de América 3 0 1 2 3 7 [1.5] 0.5

Group B

Position Team Played Wins Draws Losses Scored Conceded Bonus Points Points
1 Olimpia 3 2 1 0 7 4 [0] 7
2 Cerro Corá 3 1 2 0 6 5 [2] 7
3 Guaraní 3 1 1 1 4 4 [2.5] 6.5
4 12 de Octubre 3 0 0 3 2 6 [1] 1
Semifinals edit
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Cerro Corá 1 - 3 Cerro Porteño 1-0 0-3
Olimpia 6 - 1 Atlético Colegiales 5-0 1-1
Clausura final edit
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Cerro Porteño 4 - 4
(4 - 3 P.K.)
Olimpia 1-4 3-0

Cerro P. wins the Clausura tournament final on penalty shootout 4-3.

National championship game edit

The national championship game was played between the Apertura and Clausura tournaments winners.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Cerro Porteño 3 - 5 Olimpia 2-2 1-3

Olimpia declared as national champions by aggregate score of 5-3.

Relegation / Promotion edit

  • Nacional and Libertad automatically relegated to the second division after finishing last and second-to-last in the average points table based over a three-year period.
  • Resistencia promoted to the first division by winning the second division tournament.

Qualification to international competitions edit

Lower divisions results edit

Level Tournament Champion
2nd Intermedia Resistencia
3rd (G.A. teams) Primera de Ascenso Oriental
3rd (interior teams) UFI Champions Cup Sportivo Obrero (San Juan Misiones)
4th (G.A. teams) Segunda de Ascenso Sport Colonial

Paraguayan teams in international competitions edit

Paraguay national team edit

The following table lists all the games played by the Paraguay national football team in official competitions during 1998.

Date Venue Opponents Score Comp Paraguay scorers Report
1998-02-08 Estadio Defensores del Chaco
Asunción, Paraguay
  Poland 4 - 0 F Benítez   25'
Arce   27'
Ayala   55'
Ferreira   67'
450
1998-03-14 Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego, United States
  United States 2 - 2 F Caniza   15'
Arce   27' (pk)
451
1998-03-18 Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Mexico City, Mexico
  Mexico 1 - 1 F Benítez   62' 452
1998-03-28 Yale Bowl
New Haven, United States
  Colombia 1 - 1 F Benítez   43' 453
1998-04-22 Stadio Ennio Tardini
Parma, Italy
  Italy 3 - 1 F Sarabia   57' 454
1998-05-17 Olympic Stadium
Tokyo, Japan
  Japan 1 - 1 Kirin Cup Ayala   7' 455
1998-05-21 Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium
Kobe, Japan
  Czech Republic 1 - 0 Kirin Cup 456
1998-06-01 Philips Stadion
Eindhoven, Netherlands
  Netherlands 5 - 1 F Campos   2' 457
1998-06-03 Steaua Stadium
Bucharest, Romania
  Romania 3 - 2 F Cardozo   27'
Acuña   62'
458
1998-06-06 King Baudouin Stadium
Brussels, Belgium
  Belgium 1 - 0 F 459
1998-06-12 Stade de la Mosson
Montpellier, France
  Bulgaria 0 - 0 World Cup - Report
1998-06-19 Stade Geoffroy-Guichard
Saint-Étienne, France
  Spain 0 - 0 World Cup - Report
1998-06-24 Stade de Toulouse
Toulouse, France
  Nigeria 1 - 3 World Cup Ayala   1'
Benítez   58'
Cardozo   86'
Report
1998-06-28 Stade Félix Bollaert
Lens, France
  France 0 - 0 ( 1 - 0 A.E.T.) World Cup - Report

References edit