# 1998 Copa Mercosur

The Copa Mercosur 1998 was the first season of the Copa Mercosur, CONMEBOL's club tournament.
The competition started on 29 July 1998 and concluded on 29 December 1998 with Palmeiras beating Cruzeiro in the final.

## Participants

| Country | Team |
| Argentina (6 berths) | Boca Juniors |
| Argentina (6 berths) | Independiente |
| Argentina (6 berths) | Racing |
| Argentina (6 berths) | River Plate |
| Argentina (6 berths) | San Lorenzo |
| Argentina (6 berths) | Vélez Sársfield |
| Brazil (7 berths) | Corinthians |
| Brazil (7 berths) | Cruzeiro |
| Brazil (7 berths) | Grêmio |
| Brazil (7 berths) | Flamengo |
| Brazil (7 berths) | Palmeiras |
| Brazil (7 berths) | São Paulo |
| Brazil (7 berths) | Vasco da Gama |
| Chile (3 berths) | Colo-Colo |
| Chile (3 berths) | Universidad Católica |
| Chile (3 berths) | Universidad de Chile |
| Paraguay (2 berths) | Cerro Porteño |
| Paraguay (2 berths) | Olimpia |
| Uruguay (2 berths) | Nacional |
| Uruguay (2 berths) | Peñarol |

## Details

* The 20 teams were divided into 5 groups of 4 teams. Each team plays the other teams in the group twice. The top team from each group qualified for the quarter-finals along with the best 3 runners up.
* From the quarter-finals to the final, two legs were played in each round. In the result of a draw, the match was decided by a penalty shoot out.

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CRU | SAN | SAO | COL |
| 1 | Cruzeiro | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 7 | +8 | 10 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | 2–1 | 5–1 | 5–0 |
| 2 | San Lorenzo | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 10 | Advance to Quarter-finals | 2–1 | — | 3–2 | 3–0 |
| 3 | São Paulo | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 7 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Colo-Colo | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 7 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PAL | NAC | IND | UC |
| 1 | Palmeiras | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 3 | +13 | 18 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Nacional | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 14 | −4 | 9 | | 0–5 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Independiente | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 6 | | 0–3 | 4–3 | — | 6–2 |
| 4 | Universidad de Chile | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 13 | −6 | 3 | | 1–2 | 1–3 | 3–0 | — |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RAC | OLI | COR | PEÑ |
| 1 | Racing | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 14 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| 2 | Olimpia | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 10 | Advance to Quarter-finals | 2–4 | — | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| 3 | Corinthians | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 5 | | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 |
| 4 | Peñarol | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 3 | | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VEL | BOC | FLA | CER |
| 1 | Vélez Sársfield | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 11 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| 2 | Boca Juniors | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 9 | Advance to Quarter-finals | 0–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Flamengo | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 9 | | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Cerro Porteño | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 5 | | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–3 | — |

### Group E

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RIV | VAS | GRE | CAT |
| 1 | River Plate | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 9 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| 2 | Vasco da Gama | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 9 | | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Grêmio | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 7 | | 2–3 | 1–0 | — | 5–1 |
| 4 | Universidad Católica | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 6 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — |

### Ranking of second placed teams

| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | A | San Lorenzo | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 10 | Advance to Quarter-finals |
| 2 | C | Olimpia | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 10 | Advance to Quarter-finals |
| 3 | D | Boca Juniors | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 9 | Advance to Quarter-finals |
| 4 | E | Vasco da Gama | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 9 | |
| 5 | B | Nacional | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 14 | −4 | 9 | |

## Quarter-finals
### Second leg

Palmeiras won 4–2 on aggregate.
Cruzeiro won 4–1 on aggregate.
Olimpia won 6–4 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate. San Lorenzo won 2–0 on penalties.

## Semi-finals
### Second leg

Match abandoned after 69 minutes due to crowd trouble. Result allowed to stand. Palmeiras won 3–0 on aggregate.
Cruzeiro won 2–1 on aggregate.

## Final
### Play Off

* Copa Mercosur 1998 Winner
* Palmeiras First Title