1998 J.League

Statistics of J. League in the 1998 season.

Overview

It was contested by 18 teams, and Kashima Antlers won the championship.

First stage

Pos	Club	Gm	W/OT	DW/DL	L/OT	GF	GA	Pnt
1	Jubilo Iwata	17	13/0	0/0	4/0	52	18	39
2	Shimizu S-Pulse	17	13/0	0/0	4/0	32	14	39
3	Nagoya Grampus Eight	17	9/3	0/1	4/0	37	21	33
4	Yokohama Marinos	17	10/1	0/0	5/1	39	21	32
5	Kashima Antlers	17	10/1	0/0	6/0	41	28	32
6	Verdy Kawasaki	17	10/0	0/1	5/1	34	25	30
7	Urawa Red Diamonds	17	8/1	2/0	5/1	30	23	28
8	Yokohama Flugels	17	7/2	1/0	7/0	33	32	26
9	Cerezo Osaka	17	7/1	0/0	8/1	36	47	23
10	Kashiwa Reysol	17	6/1	2/0	7/1	32	35	22
11	JEF United Ichihara	17	7/0	0/0	8/2	31	31	21
12	Bellmare Hiratsuka	17	5/2	1/0	8/1	27	34	20
13	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	17	5/2	0/1	7/2	22	33	19
14	Gamba Osaka	17	4/2	1/0	9/1	27	29	17
15	Kyoto Purple Sanga	17	4/2	0/0	8/3	20	33	16
16	Consadole Sapporo	17	3/1	0/3	8/2	28	44	11
17	Vissel Kobe	17	3/0	0/0	13/1	20	48	9
18	Avispa Fukuoka	17	2/0	1/2	10/2	22	47	7

Second stage

Pos	Club	Gm	W/OT	DW/DL	L/OT	GF	GA	Pnt
1	Kashima Antlers	17	12/3	0/0	2/0	38	15	42
2	Jubilo Iwata	17	13/0	0/0	3/1	55	21	39
3	Urawa Red Diamonds	17	11/0	0/0	4/2	32	17	33
4	Yokohama Marinos	17	10/1	0/0	3/3	40	27	32
5	Shimizu S-Pulse	17	8/3	1/1	4/0	39	21	31
6	Nagoya Grampus Eight	17	9/1	1/0	5/1	34	26	30
7	Yokohama Flugels	17	8/0	1/0	8/0	37	32	25
8	Kashiwa Reysol	17	8/0	1/1	6/1	24	26	25
9	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	17	7/1	1/1	6/1	23	19	24
10	Consadole Sapporo	17	8/0	0/1	7/1	29	30	24
11	Kyoto Purple Sanga	17	6/2	1/0	8/0	27	30	23
12	Bellmare Hiratsuka	17	7/0	1/0	9/0	26	32	22
13	Cerezo Osaka	17	7/0	0/1	9/0	20	32	21
14	Vissel Kobe	17	5/0	1/0	10/1	25	41	16
15	Avispa Fukuoka	17	4/1	0/0	12/0	11	38	14
16	Gamba Osaka	17	3/2	0/1	11/0	20	32	13
17	Verdy Kawasaki	17	3/0	0/1	12/1	13	28	9
18	JEF United Ichihara	17	1/0	1/1	12/2	18	44	4

Playoffs

Suntory Championship

November 21, 1998
Time

Jubilo Iwata	1 - 2	Kashima Antlers
Nakayama 7'	[Official Report]	Hasegawa 72' Muroi 110'

Kokuritsu, Tokyo

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November 28, 1998
Time

Kashima Antlers	2 - 1	Jubilo Iwata
Akita 39' Bismarck 41'	[Official Report]	Fujita 84'

Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima

Relegation playoffs

On the aggregate table, JEF United Ichihara, Avispa Fukuoka, and Vissel Kobe had earned within the 15th-18th places in the tables for both 1997 and 1998, while Consadole Sapporo had achieved within the same span on its sole season on the J. League. These clubs thus were entered in an elimination promotion/relegation tournament along with Japan Football League runners-up Kawasaki Frontale, who unlike champions Tokyo Gas had a base more qualifiable for the J. League.

First round

November 19, 1998
Time

Avispa Fukuoka	3–2 (AET)	Kawasaki Frontale
Kudo 24' Yamashita 89' Fernando 104' (golden goal)	[Official Report]	Ito 17' Ruschel 61'

Hakata no Mori Football Stadium, Fukuoka

Kawasaki forms J. League Division 2 the next season. Fukuoka advances to the next round.

Second round

The winners of this round stay in J. League Division 1 and the losers play a final elimination series to determine the club relegated to Division 2.

November 22, 1998
Time

Vissel Kobe	2–1	Consadole Sapporo
Nagashima 34' (pen.) Kaimoto 41'	[Official Report]	Tanada 50'

Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kobe

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November 26, 1998
Time

Consadole Sapporo	0–2	Vissel Kobe
	[Official Report]	Tomàs 48' Watada 89'

Muroran City Stadium, Muroran

November 22, 1998
Time

Avispa Fukuoka	0–2	JEF United Ichihara
	[Official Report]	Takeda 65' Scholten 76'

Hakata no Mori Football Stadium

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November 26, 1998
Time

JEF United Ichihara	2–1	Avispa Fukuoka
Suzuki 49' Sakai 60'	[Official Report]	Mori 63'

Ichihara Seaside Stadium, Ichihara

Final round

December 2, 1998
Time

Avispa Fukuoka	1–0	Consadole Sapporo
Ueno 61'	[Official Report]

Hakata no Mori Football Stadium

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December 5, 1998
Time

Consadole Sapporo	0–3	Avispa Fukuoka
	[Official Report]	Ueno 52' Fernando 84' Ishimaru 89'

Muroran City Stadium

Fukuoka stays in J. League Division 1. Sapporo is relegated to new J. League Division 2.

Awards

Individual Awards

Award	Recipient	Club	Notes
Most Valuable Player	Masashi Nakayama	Júbilo Iwata
Rookie of the Year	Shinji Ono	Urawa Red Diamonds
Manager of the Year	Osvaldo Ardiles	Shimizu S-Pulse
Top Scorer	Masashi Nakayama	Júbilo Iwata	36 goals.

Best Eleven

Pos	Footballer	Club	Nationality
GK	Seigo Narazaki	Yokohama Flügels	Japan
DF	Naoki Soma	Kashima Antlers	Japan
DF	Makoto Tanaka	Jubilo Iwata	Japan
DF	Yutaka Akita	Kashima Antlers	Japan
MF	Shinji Ono	Urawa Red Diamonds	Japan
MF	Daisuke Oku	Jubilo Iwata	Japan
MF	Toshiya Fujita	Jubilo Iwata	Japan
MF	Hiroshi Nanami	Jubilo Iwata	Japan
MF	Dunga	Jubilo Iwata	Brazil
FW	Masashi Nakayama	Jubilo Iwata	Japan
FW	Atsushi Yanagisawa	Kashima Antlers	Japan