# 1998–99 Croatian First Football League

The 1998–99 Croatian First Football League was the eighth season of the Croatian top-level football league since its establishment.

## Teams
### Stadia and personnel

| Team | Manager$^1$ | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Cibalia | Srećko Lušić | Vinkovci | Stadion HNK Cibalia | 10,000 |
| Croatia Zagreb | Ilija Lončarević | Zagreb | Stadion Maksimir | 37,168 |
| Hajduk Split | Ivan Katalinić | Split | Stadion Poljud | 35,000 |
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | Branko Tucak | Zagreb | Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić$^2$ | 5,000 |
| Mladost 127 | Mato Šarić | Suhopolje | Stadion Park | 5,000 |
| Osijek | Stanko Poklepović | Osijek | Stadion Gradski vrt | 19,500 |
| Rijeka | Nenad Gračan | Rijeka | Stadion Kantrida | 10,275 |
| Slaven Belupo | Luka Bonačić | Koprivnica | Gradski stadion u Koprivnici | 4,000 |
| Šibenik | Stanko Mršić | Šibenik | Stadion Šubićevac | 8,000 |
| Varteks | Dražen Besek | Varaždin | Stadion Varteks | 10,800 |
| Zadarkomerc | Josip Bajlo | Zadar | Stadion Stanovi | 5,860 |
| NK Zagreb | Zdenko Jurički | Zagreb | Stadion Kranjčevićeva | 8,850 |
* $^1$ On final match day of the season, played on 26 May 1999.
* $^2$ Hrvatski Dragovoljac also used Stadion ŠRC Stanko Vlajnić-Dida in Slavonski Brod for their last eight home matches of the season.

## Overview

It was contested by 12 teams, and Croatia Zagreb won the championship. In the first stage upper six teams advance to Championship Group, bottom six to Relegation Group, with 50% of points taken to the next phase of the competition.

## First stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Croatia Zagreb | 22 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 44 | 14 | +30 | 53 | Qualification to championship group |
| 2 | Rijeka | 22 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 35 | 18 | +17 | 52 | Qualification to championship group |
| 3 | Hajduk Split | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 17 | +21 | 42 | Qualification to championship group |
| 4 | Osijek | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 37 | 23 | +14 | 36 | Qualification to championship group |
| 5 | Varteks | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 40 | 36 | +4 | 30 | Qualification to championship group |
| 6 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 23 | −6 | 25 | Qualification to championship group |
| 7 | Šibenik | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 27 | 45 | −18 | 24 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 8 | Cibalia | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 29 | −7 | 23 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 9 | NK Zagreb | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 28 | 37 | −9 | 23 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 10 | Zadarkomerc | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 27 | 40 | −13 | 21 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 11 | Slaven Belupo | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 24 | 37 | −13 | 21 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 12 | Mladost 127 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 22 | 42 | −20 | 19 | Qualification to relegation group |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Cibalia–NK Zagreb 1–1, NK Zagreb–Cibalia 2–2.
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Zadarkomerc–Slaven Belupo 2–1, Slaven Belupo–Zadarkomerc 1–1.

### Rounds 1–22 results

| Home \ Away | CIB | CZG | HAJ | HRD | MLA | OSI | RIJ | SLA | ŠIB | VAR | ZAD | ZAG |
| Cibalia | | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Croatia Zagreb | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 |
| Hajduk Split | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Mladost 127 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 3–0 | | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Osijek | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Rijeka | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 |
| Slaven Belupo | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–4 | 1–3 | | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Šibenik | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | | 0–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 |
| Varteks | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 7–0 | | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| Zadarkomerc | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 5–3 | | 1–1 |
| NK Zagreb | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 4–3 | |

## Championship group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Croatia Zagreb (C) | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 45 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 2 | Rijeka | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 44 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Hajduk Split | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 15 | +9 | 39 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Osijek | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 16 | −2 | 30 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 21 | −6 | 23 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 6 | Varteks | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 19 | −9 | 22 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |

### Rounds 23–32 results

| Home \ Away | CZG | HAJ | HRD | OSI | RIJ | VAR |
| Croatia Zagreb | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Hajduk Split | 1–0 | | 6–1 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 4–1 |
| Hrvatski Dragovoljac | 1–1 | 3–1 | | 3–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 |
| Osijek | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 5–2 | 0–2 |
| Rijeka | 0–2 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 2–1 |
| Varteks | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | |

## Relegation group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 7 | Slaven Belupo | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 7 | +8 | 29 | |
| 8 | Šibenik | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 29 | |
| 9 | Cibalia | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 26 | |
| 10 | NK Zagreb | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 16 | +3 | 25 | |
| 11 | Zadarkomerc (R) | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 14 | −1 | 24 | Relegation to Croatian Second Football League |
| 12 | Mladost 127 (R) | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 22 | −14 | 19 | Relegation to Croatian Second Football League |

### Rounds 23–32 results

| Home \ Away | CIB | MLA | SLA | ŠIB | ZAD | ZAG |
| Cibalia | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Mladost 127 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Slaven Belupo | 0–1 | 4–0 | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Šibenik | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | | 5–1 | 2–1 |
| Zadarkomerc | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 1–2 |
| NK Zagreb | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 2–0 | |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Joško Popović | Šibenik | 21 |
| 2 | Zvonimir Deranja | Hajduk Split | 14 |
| 2 | Igor Musa | Rijeka | 14 |
| 2 | Barnabás Sztipánovics | Rijeka | 14 |
| 5 | Nino Bule | NK Zagreb | 13 |
| 5 | Miljenko Mumlek | Varteks | 13 |
| 7 | Stanko Bubalo | Osijek | 10 |
| 7 | Mirza Golubica | Mladost 127 | 10 |
| 7 | Veldin Karić | Varteks | 10 |
| 7 | Jakša Krstulović | Zadar | 10 |
| 7 | Edin Mujčin | Croatia Zagreb | 10 |