1997–98 Mexican Primera División season

Primera División de México

Season	1997–98
Champions	Invierno 1997: Cruz Azul (8th title) Verano 1998: Toluca (4th title)
Relegated	Veracruz
Champions' Cup	Cruz Azul Toluca León
Copa Libertadores	Guadalajara América
Matches played	338
Goals scored	958 (2.83 per match)
Top goalscorer	Invierno 1997: Luis García (12 goals) Verano 1998: José Cardozo (13 goals)
← 1996–97 Invierno 1998 →

The 1997–98 Primera División de México (Mexican First Division) was the 56th professional season of Mexico's top-flight football league. The season began on Friday, July 25, 1997, and ended on April 6, 1998.

UANL was promoted to the Mexico Primera División as Pachuca was relegated to the Primera División A.

Overview

Teams

Mexico City

• Atlas
• Guadalajara
• UAG

Toluca

Celaya

• Monterrey
• UANL

Veracruz

León

Atl. Morelia

Puebla

Santos Laguna

Greater Mexico City teams
América
Atlante
Cruz Azul
Necaxa
Toros Neza
UNAM

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Location of the 1997-98 Primera División teams

Torneo Invierno

"Invierno 1997" began on Friday, July 25, 1997, and ran until October 26 not including the playoffs. In the final Cruz Azul defeated León and became champions for the 8th time.

Final standings (groups)

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	León	17	9	5	3	30	22	+8	32	Qualified directly to the Liguilla (Playoffs)
2	Atlante	17	8	6	3	26	17	+9	30
3	Veracruz	17	5	6	6	19	25	−6	21
4	Celaya	17	5	5	7	21	26	−5	20
5	Puebla	17	5	4	8	20	27	−7	19

Source: MedioTiempo

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cruz Azul	17	8	7	2	29	16	+13	31	Qualified directly to the Liguilla (Playoffs)
2	Guadalajara	17	8	5	4	28	24	+4	29
3	Monterrey	17	6	4	7	22	22	0	22
4	Toluca	17	5	4	8	21	21	0	19
5	UANL	17	5	3	9	20	26	−6	18

Source: MedioTiempo

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Atlético Morelia	17	7	7	3	25	19	+6	28	Qualified directly to the Liguilla (Playoffs)
2	Toros Neza	17	6	5	6	29	29	0	23
3	UNAM	17	3	7	7	26	30	−4	16
4	Santos Laguna	17	3	7	7	22	31	−9	16

Source: MedioTiempo

Group 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	América	17	8	5	4	27	19	+8	29	Qualified directly to the Liguilla (Playoffs)
2	Atlas	17	6	5	6	28	26	+2	23
3	Necaxa	17	4	6	7	26	31	−5	18
4	UAG	17	3	7	7	19	27	−8	16

Source: MedioTiempo

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	León	17	9	5	3	30	22	+8	32	Advance to Liguilla (Playoffs)
2	Cruz Azul (C)	17	8	7	2	29	16	+13	31
3	Atlante	17	8	6	3	26	17	+9	30
4	América	17	8	5	4	27	19	+8	29
5	Guadalajara	17	8	5	4	28	24	+4	29
6	Atlético Morelia	17	7	7	3	25	19	+6	28
7	Atlas	17	6	5	6	28	26	+2	23
8	Toros Neza	17	6	5	6	29	29	0	23
9	Monterrey	17	6	4	7	22	22	0	22
10	Veracruz	17	5	6	6	19	25	−6	21
11	Celaya	17	5	5	7	21	26	−5	20
12	Toluca	17	5	4	8	21	21	0	19
13	Puebla	17	5	4	8	20	27	−7	19
14	Necaxa	17	4	6	7	26	31	−5	18
15	UANL	17	5	3	9	20	26	−6	18
16	UNAM	17	3	7	7	26	30	−4	16
17	UAG	17	3	7	7	19	27	−8	16
18	Santos Laguna	17	3	7	7	22	31	−9	16

Source: MedioTiempo
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results between tied teams; 5) Number of goals scored away; 6) Highest relegation coefficient; 7) Fair Play points
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away	AME	ATE	ATS	ATM	CEL	CAZ	GDL	LEO	MTY	NEC	PUE	SAN	TOL	TRN	UAG	UNL	UNM	VER
América	—	–	0–2	1–1	–	–	–	2–3	1–0	–	4–0	2–1	4–2	1–1	–	3–1	–	–
Atlante	2–1	—	2–0	1–1	–	–	–	3–1	1–0	–	2–2	–	–	2–1	–	2–0	–	–
Atlas	–	–	—	4–2	–	–	–	2–3	2–1	–	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	–	–
Atlético Morelia	–	–	–	—	3–2	–	–	1–1	2–1	–	1–0	6–3	1–0	3–0	0–0	0–0	–	–
Celaya	1–1	0–1	2–1	–	—	0–3	1–2	–	–	1–3	–	–	1–0	–	–	–	2–2	1–0
Cruz Azul	0–1	1–1	3–1	0–1	–	—	–	2–2	3–1	–	0–0	–	–	2–2	–	–	–	–
Guadalajara	1–2	3–2	2–1	1–1	–	1–1	—	–	2–2	–	–	–	–	3–1	–	–	–	1–1
León	–	–	–	–	1–2	–	3–2	—	–	3–2	–	2–2	–	–	2–0	1–0	2–0	3–1
Monterrey	–	–	–	–	1–1	–	–	0–0	—	3–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	2–3	–	–
Necaxa	2–2	2–2	3–3	2–0	–	1–3	0–1	–	–	—	–	–	1–1	–	–	–	2–2	1–1
Puebla	–	–	–	–	2–1	–	3–2	1–0	–	0–1	—	1–1	–	–	1–1	2–1	3–2	–
Santos Laguna	–	0–2	–	–	0–0	1–1	3–1	–	–	1–0	–	—	–	–	1–2	–	4–3	1–1
Toluca	–	1–1	–	–	–	2–3	0–0	1–2	–	–	1–0	4–0	—	–	–	1–3	–	4–0
Toros Neza	–	–	–	–	2–1	–	–	1–1	–	4–2	3–1	2–2	2–0	—	4–1	3–2	1–3	–
UAG	0–0	1–0	–	–	3–4	0–2	2–3	–	–	2–3	–	–	1–2	–	—	–	2–2	1–1
UANL	–	–	–	–	1–1	0–1	1–2	–	–	2–0	–	1–0	–	–	1–1	—	2–4	2–1
UNAM	1–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	–	2–2	0–1	–	1–3	–	–	–	0–1	–	–	–	—	1–1
Veracruz	1–0	2–2	2–1	2–1	–	0–2	–	–	1–2	–	3–2	–	–	1–0	–	–	–	—

Updated to match(es) played on 26 October 1997. Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Only regular season goals listed.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Luis García	Atlante	12
2	Carlos Hermosillo	Cruz Azul	10
	Jesús Olalde	UNAM
4	Germán Arangio	Toros Neza	9
	Daniel Guzmán	Atlas
6	Gustavo Nápoles	Guadalajara	8
7	Jared Borgetti	Santos Laguna	7
	José Cardozo	Toluca
	Claudinho	Atlético Morelia
	Juan Ramón Fleita	Toros Neza
	Antonio Mohamed	Toros Neza
	Sigifredo Mercado	León
	Claudio Núñez	UANL
	Carlos Pavón	Necaxa
	Ricardo Peláez	América

Source: Liga MX

Playoffs

Bracket

	Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Finals
	1	Léon	0	6	6
	8	Toros Neza	1	3	4
								1	Léon	0	3	3
								4	América	1	1	2
	4	América	3	1	4
	5	Guadalajara	1	0	1
															1	Léon	0	1	1
															2	Cruz Azul (asdet)	1	1	2
	2	Cruz Azul	1	4	5
	7	Atlas	0	1	1
								2	Cruz Azul	1	1	2
								3	Atlante	1	0	1
	3	Atlante	1	0	1
	6	Atlético Morelia	0	0	0

Quarterfinals

November 20, 1997

15:00

Toros Neza	1–0	León
Ruiz 24'	Report

Estadio Neza 86, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl

Referee: Eduardo Brizio Carter (Mexico City)

November 23, 1997

12:00

León	6–3	Toros Neza
Espinoza 3', 76' Prátola 40' Turrubiates 47' Peña 55' Davino 84'	Report	Vázquez 26' (pen.) Ruiz 43' Mohamed 90'

Estadio León, León

Referee: Armando Archundia (Estado de México)

León won 6–4 on aggregate.

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November 18, 1997

20:45

Guadalajara	1–3	América
Suárez 15'	Report	Peláez 40', 57' García Aspe 82' (pen.)

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Referee: León Padró Borja (Guanajuato)

November 21, 1997

17:00

América	1–0	Guadalajara
Terrazas 74'	Report

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico City)

América won 4–1 on aggregate.

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November 19, 1997

20:45

Atlas	0–1	Cruz Azul
	Report	Hermosillo 62'

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Referee: Antonio Marrufo (Chihuahua)

November 22, 1997

17:00

Cruz Azul	4–1	Atlas
Yegros 17' Hermosillo 21', 80'  López 75' (o.g.)	Report	Pardo 22'

Estadio Azul, Mexico City

Referee: Gilberto Alcalá Pineda (Mexico City)

Cruz Azul won 5–1 on aggregate.

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November 19, 1997

15:00

Atlético Morelia	0–0	Atlante
	Report

Estadio Morelos, Morelia

Referee: Pascual Rebolledo (Veracruz)

November 22, 1997

12:00

Atlante	1–0	Atlético Morelia
García 49'	Report

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: Felipe Ramos Rizo (Mexico City)

Atlante won 1–0 on aggregate.

Semifinals

November 26, 1997

12:00

Atlante	1–1	Cruz Azul
Ubaldi 53'	Report	Galindo 59' (pen.)

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: León Padró Borja (Guanajuato)

November 29, 1997

17:00

Cruz Azul	1–0	Atlante
Yegros 63'	Report

Estadio Azul, Mexico City

Referee: Armando Archundia (Estado de México)

Cruz Azul won 2–1 on aggregate.

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November 27, 1997

17:00

América	1–0	León
Peláez 53'	Report

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: Gilberto Alcalá Pineda (Mexico City)

November 30, 1997

12:00

León	3–1	América
Espinoza 13' Begines 19', 22'	Report	Zárate 3'

Estadio León, León

Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico City)

León won 3–2 on aggregate.

Finals

December 4, 1997

17:00

Cruz Azul	1–0	León
Galindo 53' (pen.)	Report

Estadio Azul, Mexico City

Referee: Armando Archundia (Estado de México)

December 7, 1997

12:00

León	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Cruz Azul
Espinoza 53'	Report	Hermosillo  101'  (pen.)

Estadio León, León

Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico City)

Cruz Azul won 2–1 on aggregate.

Invierno 1997 winners
Cruz Azul 8th title

Torneo Verano

"Verano 1998" began on Saturday, January 3, 1998, and ran until April 6. In the final Toluca defeated Necaxa and became champions for the fourth time on May 10.

Final standings (groups)

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Atlante	17	5	8	4	19	18	+1	23	Qualified directly to the Liguilla (Playoffs)
2	Puebla	17	4	6	7	23	30	−7	18	Qualified for the Repechage
3	León	17	4	5	8	20	32	−12	17
4	Celaya	17	3	6	8	13	23	−10	15
5	Veracruz	17	3	5	9	20	29	−9	14

Source: MedioTiempo

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toluca	17	10	3	4	39	25	+14	33	Qualified directly to the Liguilla (Playoffs)
2	Cruz Azul	17	8	6	3	32	18	+14	30
3	UANL	17	7	2	8	15	22	−7	23
4	Guadalajara	17	5	4	8	19	17	+2	19
5	Monterrey	17	4	6	7	20	25	−5	18

Source: MedioTiempo

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Santos Laguna	17	8	2	7	24	22	+2	26	Qualified directly to the Liguilla (Playoffs)
2	Toros Neza	17	7	3	7	21	24	−3	24	Qualified for the Repechage
3	Atlético Morelia	17	5	6	6	26	30	−4	21
4	UNAM	17	6	3	8	23	28	−5	21

Source: MedioTiempo

Group 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Necaxa	17	10	2	5	34	18	+16	32	Qualified directly to the Liguilla (Playoffs)
2	Atlas	17	9	3	5	29	23	+6	30
3	UAG	17	9	3	5	23	21	+2	30	Qualified for the Repechage
4	América	17	7	5	5	27	22	+5	26

Source: MedioTiempo

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Toluca (C)	17	10	3	4	39	25	+14	33	Advance to Liguilla (Playoffs)
2	Necaxa	17	10	2	5	34	18	+16	32
3	Cruz Azul	17	8	6	3	32	18	+14	30
4	Atlas	17	9	3	5	29	23	+6	30
5	UAG	17	9	3	5	23	21	+2	30	Advance to Repechage
6	América	17	7	5	5	27	22	+5	26
7	Santos Laguna	17	8	2	7	24	22	+2	26	Advance to Liguilla (Playoffs)
8	Toros Neza	17	7	3	7	21	24	−3	24	Advance to Repechage
9	Atlante	17	5	8	4	19	18	+1	23	Advance to Liguilla (Playoffs)
10	UANL	17	7	2	8	15	22	−7	23
11	Atlético Morelia	17	5	6	6	26	30	−4	21
12	UNAM	17	6	3	8	23	28	−5	21
13	Guadalajara	17	5	4	8	19	17	+2	19
14	Monterrey	17	4	6	7	20	25	−5	18
15	Puebla	17	4	6	7	23	30	−7	18	Advance to Repechage
16	León	17	4	5	8	20	32	−12	17
17	Celaya	17	3	6	8	13	23	−10	15
18	Veracruz	17	3	5	9	20	29	−9	14	Team is last in Relegation table

Source: MedioTiempo
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results between tied teams; 5) Number of goals scored away; 6) Highest relegation coefficient; 7) Fair Play points
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away	AME	ATE	ATS	ATM	CEL	CAZ	GDL	LEO	MTY	NEC	PUE	SAN	TOL	TRN	UAG	UNL	UNM	VER
América	—	1–1	–	–	1–0	1–1	0–0	–	–	2–0	–	–	–	–	0–1	–	1–3	5–2
Atlante	–	—	–	–	0–0	0–2	1–0	–	–	0–3	–	1–0	2–2	–	2–0	–	2–3	1–0
Atlas	1–1	1–0	—	–	2–0	1–2	3–2	–	–	1–2	–	–	–	–	–	–	4–1	2–0
Atlético Morelia	1–2	2–2	4–3	—	–	2–1	1–0	–	–	2–1	–	–	–	–	–	–	0–0	1–1
Celaya	–	–	–	0–2	—	–	–	4–1	0–0	–	0–0	1–0	–	1–1	1–2	1–0	–	–
Cruz Azul	–	–	–	–	5–0	—	2–2	–	–	1–1	–	1–0	3–1	–	5–2	2–0	2–2	1–2
Guadalajara	–	–	–	–	0–0	–	—	1–1	–	1–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	–	1–2	0–1	4–0	–
León	2–1	2–2	2–0	3–3	–	1–1	–	—	2–1	–	0–0	–	1–5	1–2	–	–	–	–
Monterrey	3–2	1–1	0–0	1–1	–	1–2	2–1	–	—	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3–1	2–2
Necaxa	–	–	–	–	2–1	–	–	2–0	4–0	—	5–2	3–0	–	1–2	1–2	4–0	–	–
Puebla	1–3	1–1	1–2	5–3	–	1–1	–	–	1–1	–	—	–	3–1	2–4	–	–	–	1–0
Santos	1–1	–	2–3	2–2	–	–	–	3–0	2–1	–	3–0	—	1–3	2–0	–	2–0	–	–
Toluca	1–3	–	4–1	2–0	3–3	–	–	–	2–1	2–0	–	–	—	4–1	2–1	–	2–1	–
Toros Neza	1–2	0–0	1–1	2–1	–	1–0	0–1	–	2–3	–	–	–	–	—	–	–	–	2–0
UAG	–	–	1–2	3–1	–	–	–	1–0	1–0	–	3–2	1–2	–	1–0	—	0–0	–	–
UANL	3–1	0–3	0–2	2–0	–	–	–	2–1	1–0	–	1–1	–	0–3	3–0	–	—	–	–
UNAM	–	–	–	–	3–1	–	–	3–1	–	0–1	0–2	0–1	–	1–2	1–1	2–0	—	–
Veracruz	–	–	–	–	1–0	–	0–2	1–2	–	2–2	–	5–1	2–2	–	1–1	0–2	1–2	—

Updated to match(es) played on 6 April 1998. Source: RSSSF
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Only regular season goals listed.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	José Cardozo	Toluca	13
2	Claudinho	Atlético Morelia	11
	Carlos Hermosillo	Cruz Azul
4	Luis Hernández	Necaxa	9
5	Hugo Norberto Castillo	Atlas	8
	Jesús Olalde	UNAM
7	Germán Arangio	Toros Neza	7
	Cuauhtémoc Blanco	Necaxa
	Ricardo Peláez	América
	Martín Félix Ubaldi	Atlante

Source: MedioTiempo

Playoffs

Repechage

April 8, 1998

12:00

Puebla	2–1	UAG
Muñoz 50' Sol 66'	Report	da Silva 29' (pen.)

Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla

Referee: León Padró Borja (Guanajuato)

April 11, 1998

20:30

UAG	4–1	Puebla
Rizo 4'  Rosales 27' da Silva 56' Muf 70'	Report	Rivera 87'

Estadio Tres de Marzo, Zapopan

Referee: Gilberto Alcalá Pineda (Mexico City)

UAG won 5–3 on aggregate.

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April 10, 1998

16:00

Toros Neza	1–2	América
Ruiz 1'	Report	Torres 10' Cedrés  28'

Estadio Neza 86, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl

Referee: Felipe Ramos Rizo (Mexico City)

April 13, 1997

20:45

América	4–2	Toros Neza
Torres 27'  Zague 47' Cedrés 77' Pantoja 87'	Report	Fleita 17', 65'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: Armando Archundia (Estado de México)

América won 6–3 on aggregate.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Finals
	1	Toluca	1	5	6
	9	Atlante	0	1	1
								1	Toluca	1	2	3
								6	América	0	1	1
	3	Cruz Azul	1	1	2
	6	América	2	1	3
															1	Toluca	1	5	6
															2	Necaxa	2	2	4
	2	Necaxa	0	2	2
	7	Santos Laguna	0	1	1
								2	Necaxa (s)	2	1	2
								4	Atlas	1	1	2
	4	Atlas	1	4	5
	5	UAG	2	2	4

Quarterfinals

April 15, 1998

20:45

Atlante	0–1	Toluca
	Report	Cardozo 28'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: Edgar Ulises Rangel (Estado de México)

April 18, 1998

15:00

Toluca	5–1	Atlante
Vukić 35' Abundis 40' Cardozo  81', 85' Ruiz 90+1'	Report	Moreno 77' (pen.)

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Referee: Felipe Ramos Rizo (Mexico City)

Toluca won 6–1 on aggregate.

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April 16, 1998

20:45

América	2–1	Cruz Azul
Lara 17' Zárate 62'	Report	Galindo 89'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: Gilberto Alcalá Pineda (Mexico City)

April 19, 1998

18:00

Cruz Azul	1–1	América
Yegros 48'	Report	Zague 52'

Estadio Azul, Mexico City

Referee: Armando Archundia (Estado de México)

América won 3–2 on aggregate.

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April 15, 1998

17:00

Santos Laguna	0–0	Necaxa
	Report

Estadio Corona, Torreón

Referee: Eduardo Brizio Carter (Mexico City)

April 18, 1998

18:00

Necaxa	2–1	Santos Laguna
Pineda 73'  Aguinaga 89'	Report	Borgetti 82'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: León Padró Borja (Guanajuato)

Necaxa won 2–1 on aggregate.

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April 15, 1998

20:30

UAG	2–1	Atlas
da Silva 65', 90'	Report	Obledo 17'

Estadio Tres de Marzo, Zapopan

Referee: Pascual Rebolledo (Veracruz)

April 18, 1998

20:45

Atlas	4–2	UAG
Zepeda  24', 66' Guzmán 42' Obledo 54'	Report	Parks  63' Garcés 68'

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico City)

Atlas won 5–4 on aggregate.

Semifinals

April 26, 1998

18:00

América	0–1	Toluca
	Report	Alfaro 52'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico City)

May 3, 1998

12:00

Toluca	2–1	América
Abundis 14'  Estay 65'	Report	Cedrés 83'

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Referee: Gilberto Alcalá Pineda (Mexico City)

Toluca won 3–1 on aggregate.

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April 25, 1998

20:45

Atlas	1–2	Necaxa
Castillo  46'	Report	Pineda 24' Aguinaga 43'

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Referee: Armando Archundia (Estado de México)

May 2, 1998

18:00

Necaxa	1–1	Atlas
Pineda 48'	Report	Castillo 57'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: Felipe Ramos Rizo (Mexico City)

Necaxa won 3–2 on aggregate.

Finals

May 7, 1998

18:00

Necaxa	2–1	Toluca
Pineda 56', 87'	Report	Ruiz 76'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Referee: Gilberto Alcalá Pineda (Mexico City)

May 10, 1998

12:00

Toluca	5–2	Necaxa
Taboada 3'  Abundis 35', 52'  Cardozo 58', 89'	Report	Montes de Oca 1' Aguinaga 2'

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico City)

Toluca won 6–4 on aggregate.

Verano 1998 winners
Toluca 4th title

Relegation table

Pos.	Team	Pts.	Pld.	Ave.
14	UANL	41	34	1.2058
15	Atlético Morelia	122	102	1.1961
16	Celaya	116	102	1.1372
17	Puebla	116	102	1.1372
18	Veracruz	113	102	1.1078

External links

• Mediotiempo.com (where information was obtained)