# 1998 Categoría Primera A season

The 1998 Categoría Primera A season, known as Copa Mustang 1998 for sponsoring purposes, was the 51st season of the Categoría Primera A, Colombia's top-flight football league. The season started on 1 February and ended on 20 December 1998. Deportivo Cali were the champions, clinching their seventh domestic league title after beating Once Caldas in the finals.
América de Cali were the defending champions, but placed third in their semifinal group and thus failed to qualify for the final stage of the competition.

## Format

The competition returned to its usual calendar year system, following the year-and-a-half tournament played in 1996–97, and was split into four stages: the Apertura and Finalización tournaments, the semifinals, and the finals. In the Apertura tournament, the 16 teams played each other under a double round-robin format as well as six additional rounds divided into regional groups for a total of 36 games, whilst the Finalización tournament had 14 rounds with the teams being divided into two groups of eight. An aggregate table considering the results of both tournaments was used to decide the eight teams that would advance to the semifinals, with the top four of said table receiving bonus points to be applied in the next stage of the competition. In the semifinals, the eight qualified teams were split into two groups of four and played each one of their group rivals twice, with the winners of each group playing a final series over two legs to decide the champions of the season. In the event that both teams tied on points at the end of the second leg of the finals, a tiebreaker match on neutral ground would be played. The winners of the Apertura tournament and the season champions qualified for the 1999 Copa Libertadores, but since Once Caldas won both tournaments of the season and also advanced to the final, then the other finalist (Deportivo Cali) also qualified for the Copa Libertadores.
This was the last tournament in which teams were awarded bonus points, as well as the last one in which draws triggered a penalty shoot-out, in which the winning side ended up earning an additional point.

## Teams

16 teams competed in the season, the top 15 teams of the relegation table of the 1996–97 season and Atlético Huila, who were promoted as champions of the 1997 Categoría Primera B tournament, replacing Deportivo Pereira who were relegated at the end of the previous season.
| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
| América de Cali | Cali | Pascual Guerrero | 45,625 |
| Atlético Bucaramanga | Bucaramanga | Alfonso López | 28,000 |
| Atlético Huila | Neiva | Guillermo Plazas Alcid | 22,000 |
| Atlético Nacional | Medellín | Atanasio Girardot | 52,000 |
| Cortuluá | Tuluá | Doce de Octubre | 16,000 |
| Deportes Quindío | Armenia | Centenario | 29,000 |
| Deportes Tolima | Ibagué | Manuel Murillo Toro | 28,100 |
| Deportivo Cali | Cali | Pascual Guerrero | 45,625 |
| Deportivo Unicosta | Barranquilla | Romelio Martínez | 20,000 |
| Envigado | Envigado | Polideportivo Sur | 11,000 |
| Independiente Medellín | Medellín | Atanasio Girardot | 52,000 |
| Junior | Barranquilla | Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez | 60,000 |
| Millonarios | Bogotá | Nemesio Camacho El Campín | 48,300 |
| Once Caldas | Manizales | Palogrande | 36,553 |
| Santa Fe | Bogotá | Nemesio Camacho El Campín | 48,300 |
| Unión Magdalena | Santa Marta | Eduardo Santos | 23,000 |

## Torneo Apertura

The Torneo Apertura (also known as Copa Mustang I) began on 1 February and ended in late September.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Once Caldas | 36 | 21 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 66 | 34 | +32 | 77 | Qualification for the Copa Libertadores |
| 2 | Atlético Nacional | 36 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 63 | 35 | +28 | 69 | |
| 3 | Santa Fe | 36 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 48 | 32 | +16 | 68 | |
| 4 | Independiente Medellín | 36 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 51 | 29 | +22 | 64 | |
| 5 | Deportivo Cali | 36 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 60 | 49 | +11 | 61 | |
| 6 | América de Cali | 36 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 54 | 39 | +15 | 58 | |
| 7 | Junior | 36 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 51 | 55 | −4 | 55 | |
| 8 | Atlético Huila | 36 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 54 | 47 | +7 | 54 | |
| 9 | Millonarios | 36 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 53 | |
| 10 | Deportes Tolima | 36 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 14 | 42 | 51 | −9 | 51 | |
| 11 | Deportes Quindío | 36 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 49 | |
| 12 | Cortuluá | 36 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 42 | 59 | −17 | 47 | |
| 13 | Envigado | 36 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 40 | 50 | −10 | 46 | |
| 14 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 36 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 37 | 54 | −17 | 46 | |
| 15 | Unión Magdalena | 36 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 40 | 72 | −32 | 36 | |
| 16 | Deportivo Unicosta | 36 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 42 | 79 | −37 | 30 | |

## Torneo Finalización

The Torneo Finalización (also known as Copa Mustang II) began in early October and ended on 19 November. Teams were divided into two groups according to their placement in the Apertura tournament: odd-placed teams made up Group A while even-placed ones made up Group B.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Once Caldas | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 11 | +16 | 33 |
| 2 | Deportes Quindío | 14 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 18 | +7 | 27 |
| 3 | Deportivo Cali | 14 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 25 |
| 4 | Envigado | 14 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 23 |
| 5 | Millonarios | 14 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 16 | −1 | 22 |
| 6 | Unión Magdalena | 14 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 15 |
| 7 | Santa Fe | 14 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 19 | −11 | 12 |
| 8 | Junior | 14 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 30 | −10 | 11 |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Atlético Nacional | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 16 | +14 | 33 |
| 2 | Independiente Medellín | 14 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 28 | 16 | +12 | 29 |
| 3 | Cortuluá | 14 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 22 | 20 | +2 | 22 |
| 4 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 14 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 21 | +1 | 21 |
| 5 | Deportes Tolima | 14 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 19 | −4 | 20 |
| 6 | América de Cali | 14 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 20 | −3 | 19 |
| 7 | Atlético Huila | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 21 | −1 | 17 |
| 8 | Deportivo Unicosta | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 15 | 36 | −21 | 7 |

## Aggregate table

An aggregate table known as Reclasificación including the games of both tournaments (Apertura and Finalización) was used to determine the teams that would advance to the semifinal stage, as well as the team to be relegated at the end of the season. The top eight teams in this table at the end of the Torneo Finalización advanced to the semifinals, while the team placed last was relegated to Categoría Primera B for the following season.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Once Caldas | 50 | 29 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 94 | 46 | +48 | 110 | Advance to the semifinals |
| 2 | Atlético Nacional | 50 | 25 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 93 | 52 | +41 | 102 | Advance to the semifinals |
| 3 | Independiente Medellín | 50 | 23 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 80 | 45 | +35 | 93 | Advance to the semifinals |
| 4 | Deportivo Cali | 50 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 77 | 61 | +16 | 86 | Advance to the semifinals |
| 5 | Santa Fe | 50 | 19 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 56 | 49 | +7 | 80 | Advance to the semifinals |
| 6 | América de Cali | 50 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 70 | 59 | +11 | 77 | Advance to the semifinals |
| 7 | Deportes Quindío | 50 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 68 | 65 | +3 | 76 | Advance to the semifinals |
| 8 | Millonarios | 50 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 57 | 59 | −2 | 75 | Advance to the semifinals |
| 9 | Atlético Huila | 50 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 74 | 68 | +6 | 71 | Qualified for the Copa CONMEBOL |
| 10 | Deportes Tolima | 50 | 12 | 15 | 5 | 18 | 57 | 70 | −13 | 71 | |
| 11 | Envigado | 50 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 55 | 64 | −9 | 69 | |
| 12 | Cortuluá | 50 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 64 | 79 | −15 | 69 | |
| 13 | Atlético Bucaramanga | 50 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 59 | 75 | −16 | 67 | |
| 14 | Junior | 50 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 72 | 88 | −16 | 66 | |
| 15 | Unión Magdalena | 50 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 27 | 58 | 96 | −38 | 51 | |
| 16 | Deportivo Unicosta (R) | 50 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 34 | 57 | 115 | −58 | 37 | Relegation to Categoría Primera B |

## Semifinals

In the third stage of the tournament, the eight qualified teams were split into two groups according to their final position in the season's aggregate table, and played each one of the other teams in their group under a double round-robin system with the teams with the most points in each group at the end of this stage advancing to the final.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ONC | DIM | QUI | SFE |
| 1 | Once Caldas | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 14.5 | Advance to the Finals | — | 1–0 | 1–1 (5–4 p) | 2–1 |
| 2 | Independiente Medellín | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 13 | | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Deportes Quindío | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8 | | 1–1 (4–5 p) | 4–1 | — | 3–2 |
| 4 | Santa Fe | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 3 | | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | — |
* ↑ Aggregate table bonus: 1.5 points
* ↑ Aggregate table bonus: 1 point

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CAL | NAC | AME | MIL |
| 1 | Deportivo Cali | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 13.75 | Finals and Copa Libertadores | — | 1–1 (1–4 p) | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Atlético Nacional | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 9.25 | | 2–2 (4–3 p) | — | 1–3 | 3–1 |
| 3 | América de Cali | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 8 | | 2–2 (1–3 p) | 1–0 | — | 1–3 |
| 4 | Millonarios | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 7 | | 0–2 | 1–1 (4–3 p) | 1–1 (4–3 p) | — |
* ↑ Aggregate table bonus: 0.75 points
* ↑ Aggregate table bonus: 1.25 points

## Finals

Deportivo Cali won 4–1 on points.
* 1998 Categoría Primera A champions
* Deportivo Cali 7th title

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Víctor Bonilla | Deportivo Cali | 36 |
| 2 | Sergio Galván Rey | Once Caldas | 29 |
| 3 | Héctor Mario Núñez | Independiente Medellín | 26 |
| 3 | Adolfo Valencia | Independiente Medellín | 26 |
| 5 | Alex Comas | Atlético Nacional | 25 |
| 6 | Carlos Rodas | Deportes Quindío | 21 |
| 7 | Edwin Congo | Once Caldas | 20 |
| 8 | José Herrera | Unión Magdalena | 19 |
| 8 | Daniel Tilger | Junior | 19 |
Source: Historia del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano 70 Años