1998 Copa Libertadores group stage

The 1998 Copa Libertadores group stage was played from 25 February to 9 April 1998. A total of 20 teams competed in the group stage to decide 15 places in the final stages of the 1998 Copa Libertadores, where they joined defending champions Cruzeiro.

Same as previous editions, the 20 participating teams were divided into 5 groups of 4, which consisted of two teams from one association and two teams from another. The paired associations for this edition were as follows:

• Group 1:  Colombia and  Ecuador
• Group 2:  Brazil and  Venezuela
• Group 3:  Chile and  Paraguay
• Group 4:  Bolivia and  Uruguay
• Group 5:  Argentina and  Peru

However, after the agreement reached between the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) and Mexican promoters close to the Mexican Football Federation (FMF), the two places corresponding to the FVF were put at stake in a previous tournament, called Pre-Libertadores, between the two Venezuelan teams that had previously qualified for this edition and two Mexican teams designated by the FMF.^[1] Mexican sides Guadalajara and Club América overcame Venezuelan sides Caracas and Atlético Zulia to qualify for group 2.^[2]

In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams were ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored.

The winners, runners-up and third placed teams of each group advanced to the round of 16 of the final stages.

The match schedule of the group stage was announced by CONMEBOL on 12 December 1997.^[3]

Weeks	Dates	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4	Group 5
Week 1	25 February 1998	COL1 v COL2, ECU1 v ECU2	—	PAR1 v PAR2, CHI2 v CHI1	BOL1 v BOL2, URU1 v URU2	—
Week 2	3, 4 and 6 March 1998	ECU2 v COL2, ECU1 v COL2	MEX2 v MEX1, BRA2 v BRA1	PAR2 v CHI1, PAR1 v CHI1	BOL2 v URU1, BOL1 v URU1	ARG2 v ARG1, PER1 v PER2
Week 3	10–13 March 1998	ECU2 v COL1, ECU1 v COL1	MEX2 v BRA2, MEX1 v BRA2	PAR2 v CHI2, PAR1 v CHI2	BOL2 v URU2, BOL1 v URU2	ARG2 v PER2, PER1 v ARG1
Week 4	17–20 March 1998	COL2 v COL1, ECU2 v ECU1	MEX2 v BRA1, MEX1 v BRA1	PAR2 v PAR1, CHI1 v CHI2	URU2 v URU1, BOL2 v BOL1	ARG2 v PER1, PER2 v ARG1
Week 5	24–27 March 1998	COL2 v ECU2, COL1 v ECU2	BRA1 v BRA2, MEX1 v MEX2	CHI2 v PAR2, CHI1 v PAR2	URU2 v BOL2, URU1 v BOL2	ARG1 v ARG2, PER2 v PER1
Week 6	31 March – 3 April 1998	COL2 v ECU1, COL1 v ECU1	BRA2 v MEX2, BRA1 v MEX2	CHI2 v PAR1, CHI1 v PAR1	URU2 v BOL1, URU1 v BOL1	PER1 v ARG2, ARG1 v PER2
Week 7	7–9 April 1998	—	BRA2 v MEX1, BRA1 v MEX1	—	—	PER2 v ARG2, ARG1 v PER1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AME	BSC	BUC	SDQ
1	América de Cali	6	3	2	1	10	5	+5	11	Round of 16		—	3–0	2–2	2–1
2	Barcelona	6	2	3	1	5	3	+2	9			1–0	—	2–0	0–0
3	Atlético Bucaramanga	6	2	1	3	5	6	−1	7			0–1	2–0	—	2–0
4	Deportivo Quito	6	1	2	3	3	9	−6	5			0–4	1–1	1–0	—

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GRE	VAS	AME	GUA
1	Grêmio	6	4	0	2	6	5	+1	12	Round of 16		—	1–0	1–0	2–0
2	Vasco da Gama	6	2	2	2	7	4	+3	8			3–0	—	1–1	2–0
3	América	6	2	2	2	6	5	+1	8			1–2	1–1	—	2–0
4	Guadalajara	6	2	0	4	2	7	−5	6			1–0	1–0	0–1	—

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		OLI	C-C	CCP	UCA
1	Olimpia	6	4	1	1	14	6	+8	13	Round of 16		—	1–1	5–1	2–0
2	Colo-Colo	6	2	1	3	8	10	−2	7			1–3	—	1–2	3–2
3	Cerro Porteño	6	2	1	3	6	9	−3	7			1–2	2–0	—	0–0
4	Universidad Católica	6	2	1	3	5	8	−3	7			2–1	0–2	1–0	—

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BOL	PEÑ	NAC	OPE
1	Bolívar	6	4	1	1	9	7	+2	13	Round of 16		—	2–0	1–0	3–2
2	Peñarol	6	3	1	2	12	5	+7	10			0–1	—	2–1	6–1
3	Nacional	6	2	0	4	11	12	−1	6			4–1	1–4	—	4–1
4	Oriente Petrolero	6	1	2	3	7	15	−8	5			1–1	0–0	2–1	—

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RIV	ALI	COL	SCR
1	River Plate	6	5	1	0	15	6	+9	16	Round of 16		—	2–0	4–1	3–1
2	Alianza Lima	6	2	1	3	5	7	−2	7			1–1	—	1–0	1–0
3	Colón	6	2	1	3	5	8	−3	7			1–2	1–0	—	1–0
4	Sporting Cristal	6	1	1	4	7	11	−4	4			2–3	3–2	1–1	—

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• Copa Libertadores de América 1998, at RSSSF.org