The following article presents a summary of the 1998 football (soccer) season in Paraguay.
First division results
Torneo Apertura 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. PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededPoints1Cerro Porteño 118122410252Sportivo Luqueño 116321716213Olimpia 11623157204Presidente Hayes 114431110165Guaraní 11434111315612 de Octubre 114251415147Sol de América 113441215138Cerro Corá113351518129Atl. Colegiales1133510141210San Lorenzo1133512171211Nacional1124518201012Libertad1124581210
Apertura playoff stage 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 Group A PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededBonus PointsPoints1Olimpia32017282Sol de América 32016563Guaraní 31115654Sportivo Luqueño301238[2.5]3.5
Group B PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededBonus PointsPoints1Cerro Porteño 330010212212 de Octubre311146[0.5]4.53Cerro Corá31113444Presidente Hayes300327[1.5]1.5
Semifinals
Apertura final
Olimpia wins the Apertura tournament final by aggregate score of 3-1.
Torneo Clausura 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. PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededPoints1Cerro Porteño 11821289262Guaraní 116322015213Cerro Corá 115331816184Atl. Colegiales 11515141516512 de Octubre 114341820156Sol de América 112721210137 * Nacional 112721723138Olimpia113351312129San Lorenzo1125413161110Sportivo Luqueño112548131111Libertad111641218912Presidente Hayes1115512188
* 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 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 Group A PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededBonus PointsPoints1Cerro Porteño 330073122Atlético Colegiales 311143[1.5]5.53San Lorenzo 31026734Sol de América 301237[1.5]0.5
Group B PositionTeamPlayedWinsDrawsLossesScoredConcededBonus PointsPoints1Olimpia32107472Cerro Corá 31206573Guaraní 311144[2.5]6.5412 de Octubre3003261
Semifinals
Clausura final
Cerro P. wins the Clausura tournament final on penalty shootout 4-3.
National championship game The national championship game was played between the Apertura and Clausura tournaments winners.
Olimpia declared as national champions by aggregate score of 5-3.
Relegation / Promotion 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 Olimpia qualified to the 1999 Copa Libertadores by winning the Torneo Apertura. Cerro Porteño qualified to the 1999 Copa Libertadores by winning the Torneo Clausura.
Lower divisions results LevelTournamentChampion2ndIntermediaResistencia3rd (G.A. teams)Primera de AscensoOriental3rd (interior teams)UFI Champions CupSportivo Obrero (San Juan Misiones)4th (G.A. teams)Segunda de AscensoSport Colonial
Paraguayan teams in international competitions Copa Libertadores 1998: Cerro Porteño: Semi-finals Olimpia: Round of 16 Copa MERCOSUR 1998: Olimpia: Semi-finals Cerro Porteño: Group stage Copa CONMEBOL 1998: Cerro Corá: First round
Paraguay national team The following table lists all the games played by the Paraguay national football team in official competitions during 1998.
DateVenueOpponentsScoreCompParaguay scorersReport 1998-02-08 Estadio Defensores del Chaco Asunción, Paraguay 4 - 0 F Benítez Arce Ayala Ferreira 450 1998-03-14 Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, United States 2 - 2 F Caniza Arce (pk) 451 1998-03-18 Estadio Olímpico Universitario Mexico City, Mexico 1 - 1 F Benítez 452 1998-03-28 Yale Bowl New Haven, United States 1 - 1 F Benítez 453 1998-04-22 Stadio Ennio Tardini Parma, Italy 3 - 1 F Sarabia 454 1998-05-17 Olympic Stadium Tokyo, Japan 1 - 1 Kirin Cup Ayala 455 1998-05-21 Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium Kobe, Japan 1 - 0 Kirin Cup 456 1998-06-01 Philips Stadion Eindhoven, Netherlands 5 - 1 F Campos 457 1998-06-03 Steaua Stadium Bucharest, Romania 3 - 2 F Cardozo Acuña 458 1998-06-06 King Baudouin Stadium Brussels, Belgium 1 - 0 F 459 1998-06-12 Stade de la Mosson Montpellier, France 0 - 0 World Cup - Report 1998-06-19 Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Saint-Étienne, France 0 - 0 World Cup - Report 1998-06-24 Stade de Toulouse Toulouse, France 1 - 3 World Cup Ayala Benítez Cardozo Report 1998-06-28 Stade Félix Bollaert Lens, France 0 - 0 ( 1 - 0 A.E.T.) World Cup - Report
References Paraguay 1998 by Eli Schmerler, Andy Bolander and Juan Pablo Andrés at RSSSF Diario ABC Color