The 1998 Copa Merconorte was an association football tournament held in 1998. Atlético Nacional of Colombia beat Deportivo Cali also of Colombia in the final.

Quick Facts Tournament details, Dates ...

Copa Merconorte 1998

Tournament details
Dates	15 September – 9 December 1998
Teams	12 (from 5 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Atlético Nacional (1st title)
Runners-up	Deportivo Cali
Tournament statistics
Matches played	75
Goals scored	218 (2.91 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Héctor Hurtado Neider Morantes Rafael Castellín Héctor Ferri Carlos Alberto Juárez (4 goals each)
1999 →

Close

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.^[1]

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

More information Pos, Team ...

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MIL	EME	AME	CRI
1	Millonarios	6	3	1	2	7	8	−1	10	Advance to Semifinals		—	2–1	2–2	1–0
2	Emelec	6	2	3	1	9	6	+3	9			3–0	—	1–0	1–1
3	América de Cali	6	1	4	1	9	9	0	7			2–1	2–2	—	1–1
4	Sporting Cristal	6	0	4	2	5	7	−2	4			0–1	1–1	2–2	—

Close

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group B

More information Pos, Team ...

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ATL	ALI	STR	BAR
1	Atlético Nacional	6	3	2	1	14	7	+7	11	Advance to Semifinals		—	3–1	2–3	4–0
2	Alianza Lima	6	2	2	2	8	6	+2	8			1–1	—	4–0	2–0
3	The Strongest	6	2	2	2	5	9	−4	8			0–2	0–0	—	1–0
4	Barcelona	6	1	2	3	5	10	−5	5			2–2	2–0	1–1	—

Close

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group C

More information Pos, Team ...

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CAL	NAC	CAR	UNI
1	Deportivo Cali	6	3	2	1	7	3	+4	11	Advance to Semifinals		—	2–0	1–1	2–1
2	El Nacional	6	3	1	2	6	6	0	10			1–0	—	2–1	1–1
3	Caracas	6	2	1	3	6	8	−2	7			0–2	1–0	—	0–2
4	Universitario	6	1	2	3	6	8	−2	5			0–0	1–2	1–3	—

Close

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Ranking of second placed teams

More information Pos, Grp ...

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	C	El Nacional	6	3	1	2	6	6	0	10	Advance to Semifinals
2	A	Emelec	6	2	3	1	9	6	+3	9
3	B	Alianza Lima	6	2	2	2	8	6	+2	8

Close

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points in all group matches; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) lots drawn by CONMEBOL.