1998 Major League Soccer season

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1998 Major League Soccer season
Season 1998
MLS Cup Chicago Fire
Supporters' Shield Los Angeles Galaxy
Matches played 192
Goals scored 685 (3.57 per match)
Top goalscorer Stern John
Columbus Crew
Goals: 26
Longest winning run Chicago Fire
Games: 11
(05/16 - 07/09)
Longest losing run N.E. Revolution
Games: 9
(05/13 - 07/04)
Highest attendance Los Angeles Galaxy
Season: 348,549
Game Avg.: 21,784
Lowest attendance Kansas City Wizards
Season: 129,163
Game Avg.: 8,073
Average attendance MLS
Season: 2,747,897
Game Avg.: 14,312

The 1998 Major League Soccer season was the third season of the league. Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion played their inaugural seasons as the first two MLS expansion teams. Chicago would become the first expansion team to win the MLS Cup and the first to win it in the inaugural year.

Final standings

  • 3 points were awarded for a win.
  • 1 point was awarded for a shootout win and considered a win in the standings.
  • No points were awarded for a loss or a shootout loss, with the latter being considered a loss in the standings
  • The top four teams in each conference advanced to the playoffs.

Eastern Conference

Eastern Conference P W SW SL L WIR SO LIR GF GA GD APts Pts
D.C. United 32 24 <7 3> 8 17 10 5 81 51 30 61 58
Columbus Crew 32 15 <0 5> 17 15 5 12 67 61 6 50 45
MetroStars 32 15 <3 4> 17 12 7 13 57 63 -6 43 39
Miami Fusion 32 15 <5 0> 17 10 5 17 51 68 -17 35 35
Tampa Bay Mutiny 32 12 <1 5> 20 11 6 15 47 62 -15 39 34
New England Revolution 32 11 <2 4> 21 9 6 17 53 70 -15 33 29

Western Conference

Western Conference P W SW SL L WIR SO LIR GF GA GD APts Pts
Los Angeles Galaxy (SS) 32 24 <2 2> 8 22 4 6 85 44 41 70 68
Chicago Fire 32 20 <2 1> 12 18 3 11 62 45 17 57 56
Colorado Rapids 32 16 <2 2> 16 14 4 14 62 69 -7 46 44
Dallas Burn 32 15 <4 2> 17 11 6 15 43 59 -16 39 37
San Jose Clash 32 13 <3 5> 19 10 8 14 48 60 -12 38 33
Kansas City Wizards 32 12 <2 4> 20 10 6 16 45 50 -5 36 32

MLS Cup Playoffs

  • The ties were a best of three series.
  Conference Semifinals Conference Finals MLS Cup '98
                                       
  1  D.C. United 2 0 (3) x  
4  Miami Fusion 1 0 (2) x  
  1  D.C. United 2 2 3  
Eastern Conference
  2  Columbus Crew 0 4 0  
2  Columbus Crew 5 1 (3) x
  3  MetroStars 3 1 (2) x  
    E  D.C. United 0
  W  Chicago Fire 2
  1  Los Angeles Galaxy 6 3 x  
4  Dallas Burn 1 2 x  
  1  Los Angeles Galaxy 0 1 (1) x
Western Conference
  2  Chicago Fire 1 1 (2) x  
2  Chicago Fire 2 1 x
  3  Colorado Rapids 1 0 x  

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference

September 30, 1998
Game 1
Miami Fusion 1 – 2 D.C. United
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 15,187

October 4, 1998
Game 2
D.C. United 0 – 0
3–2 (S.O.)
Miami Fusion
  • D.C. United advance 2-0, to the Conference Finals.

September 30, 1998
Game 1
MetroStars 3 – 5 Columbus Crew
Ohio Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 10,996

October 3, 1998
Game 2
Columbus Crew 1 – 1
3–2 (S.O.)
MetroStars
  • Columbus Crew advance 2-0, to the Conference Finals.

Western Conference

October 1, 1998
Game 1
Dallas Burn 1 – 6 Los Angeles Galaxy
Rose Bowl
Pasadena, California
Attendance: 10,047

October 4, 1998
Game 2
Los Angeles Galaxy 3 – 2 Dallas Burn
Cotton Bowl
Dallas, Texas
Attendance: 8,130
  • Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2-0, to the Conference Finals.

October 1, 1998
Game 1
Colorado Rapids 1 – 2 Chicago Fire
Soldier Field
Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 12,610

October 5, 1998
Game 2
Chicago Fire 1 – 0 Colorado Rapids
  • Chicago Fire advance 2-0, to the Conference Finals.

Conference finals

Eastern Conference

October 11, 1998
Game 1
Columbus Crew 0 – 2 D.C. United
Sanneh Goal 68'
Etcheverry Goal 78'
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 17,755

October 18, 1998
Game 2
D.C. United 2 – 4 Columbus Crew
Sanneh Goal 65'
Lassiter Goal 77'
McBride Goal 8',47'
Dooley Goal 37'
John Goal 81'
Ohio Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 13,193

October 21, 1998
Game 3
Columbus Crew 0 – 3 D.C. United
Agoos Goal 12'
Lassiter Goal 44', 79'
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 21,453
  • D.C. United advance 2-1, to MLS Cup '98

Western Conference

October 10, 1998
Game 1
Chicago Fire 1 – 0 Los Angeles Galaxy
Marsch Goal 86'
Rose Bowl
Pasadena, California
Attendance: 25,107

October 16, 1998
Game 2
Los Angeles Galaxy 1 – 1
1–2 (SO)
Chicago Fire
Pena Goal 37' Nowak Goal 31'
Soldier Field
Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 32,744
  • Chicago Fire advance 2-0, to MLS Cup '98

MLS Cup '98

October 25, 1998
Chicago Fire 2 – 0 D.C. United
Podbrozny Goal 29'
Gutierrez Goal 45'
Rose Bowl
Pasadena, California
Attendance: 51,350

Referee: Kevin Terry

Top Goal Scorers

Position Player Club Goals
1 Trinidad and Tobago Stern John Columbus Crew 26
2 United States Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy 19
3 United States Roy Lassiter D.C. United 18
El Salvador Raúl Díaz Arce New England Revolution 18
5 Brazil Welton Los Angeles Galaxy 17
6 Bolivia Jaime Moreno D.C. United 16
7 Venezuela Giovanni Savarese MetroStars 14
8 Jamaica Wolde Harris Colorado Rapids 13
El Salvador Mauricio Cienfuegos Los Angeles Galaxy 13
El Salvador Ronald Cerritos San Jose Clash 13

Player of the Week

Week Player of the Week Team
Week 1 United States Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 2 United States Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 3 United States Frank Klopas Chicago Fire
Week 4 United States Jason Farrell Columbus Crew
Week 5 Trinidad and Tobago Stern John Columbus Crew
Week 6 United States Paul Bravo Colorado Rapids
Week 7 United States Tony Meola MetroStars
Week 8 United States Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 9 Zimbabwe Vitalis Takawira Kansas City Wizards
Week 10 Poland Peter Nowak Chicago Fire
Week 11 Trinidad and Tobago Stern John Columbus Crew
Week 12 Poland Jerzy Podbrożny Chicago Fire
Week 13 United States Zach Thornton Chicago Fire
Week 14 Poland Roman Kosecki Chicago Fire
Week 15 Czech Republic Luboš Kubík Chicago Fire
Week 16 United States John Harkes D.C. United
Week 17 United States Roy Lassiter D.C. United
Week 18 Bolivia Marco Etcheverry D.C. United
Week 19 United States Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 20 Trinidad and Tobago Stern John Columbus Crew
Week 21 United States Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 22 Colombia Diego Serna Miami Fusion
Week 23 Mexico Carlos Hermosillo Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 24 United States Josh Wolff Chicago Fire
Week 25 Colombia Diego Serna Miami Fusion

Player of the Month

Month Player of the Month Team
March United States Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy
April United States Juergen Sommer Columbus Crew
May Poland Peter Nowak Chicago Fire
June United States Ross Paule Colorado Rapids
July United States Roy Lassiter D.C. United
August Trinidad and Tobago Stern John Columbus Crew
September Colombia Diego Serna Miami Fusion

Individual Awards

Award Player Team
Most Valuable Player Bolivia Marco Etcheverry D.C. United
Scoring Champion Trinidad and Tobago Stern John - (57 Pts.) Columbus Crew
Defender of the Year Czech Republic Lubos Kubik Chicago Fire
Goalkeeper of the Year United States Zach Thornton Chicago Fire
Rookie of the Year United States Ben Olsen D.C. United
Coach of the Year United States Bob Bradley Chicago Fire
Goal of the Year United States Brian McBride Columbus Crew
Fair Play Award United StatesGermany Thomas Dooley Columbus Crew

Best-performing coaches by wins

Coach Team Wins Loss PCT. PTS. SOW
Ecuador Octavio Zambrano Los Angeles Galaxy 24 8 0.750 68 2
United States Bruce Arena D.C. United 24 8 0.750 58 7
United States Bob Bradley Chicago Fire 20 11 0.645 56 2
United States Glenn Myernick Colorado Rapids 16 16 0.500 44 2
United States Tom Fitzgerald Columbus Crew 15 17 0.469 45 0
United States Dave Dir Dallas Burn 15 17 0.469 37 4
Spain Alfonso Mondelo MetroStars 14 17 0.452 38 2
Scotland Brian Quinn San Jose Clash 13 19 0.406 33 3
England Ron Newman Kansas City Wizards 12 20 0.375 32 2
United States Tim Hankinson Tampa Bay Mutiny 9 8 0.529 25 1
Netherlands Thomas Rongen New England Revolution 8 18 0.308 20 2
Argentina Carlos Cordoba Miami Fusion 8 11 0.421 14 5
Brazil Ivo Wortmann Miami Fusion 7 6 0.538 21 0
Italy Walter Zenga New England Revolution 3 3 0.500 9 0
Poland John Kowalski Tampa Bay Mutiny 3 12 0.200 9 0
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bora Milutinovic MetroStars 1 0 0.100 1 1

Team Attendance Totals

Club Games Home Total Home Average
Chicago Fire 16 286,190 17,886
Colorado Rapids 16 236,995 14,812
Columbus Crew 16 196,394 12,274
D.C. United 16 256,127 16,007
Dallas Burn 16 175,162 10,947
Kansas City Wizards 16 129,163 8,072
Los Angeles Galaxy 16 348,549 21,784
MetroStars 16 264,316 16,519
Miami Fusion 16 164,548 10,284
New England Revolution 16 307,004 19,187
San Jose Clash 16 218,450 13,653
Tampa Bay Mutiny 16 164,999 10,312
OVERALL 192 2,747,897 14,311

Team Awards

International Competition

CONCACAF Champions' Cup

Interamerican Cup

First leg played at RFK Stadium
Second leg played at Lockhart Stadium.

References