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.

Croatian First Football League

Season	1998–99
Champions	Croatia Zagreb 5th Croatian title 9th domestic title
Champions League	Croatia Zagreb Rijeka
UEFA Cup	Hajduk Split Osijek
Intertoto Cup	Varteks Hrvatski Dragovoljac
Matches played	192
Goals scored	541 (2.82 per match)
Best Player	Miljenko Mumlek
Top goalscorer	Joško Popović (21)
Biggest home win	Varteks 7–0 Šibenik
Biggest away win	Mladost 127 0–4 Croatia Zagreb
Highest scoring	Zadarkomerc 5–3 Varteks
Average attendance	4,158
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

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
3	Hajduk Split	22	12	6	4	38	17	+21	42
4	Osijek	22	11	3	8	37	23	+14	36
5	Varteks	22	9	3	10	40	36	+4	30
6	Hrvatski Dragovoljac	22	6	7	9	17	23	−6	25
7	Šibenik	22	7	3	12	27	45	−18	24	Qualification to relegation group
8	Cibalia	22	6	5	11	22	29	−7	23^[a]
9	NK Zagreb	22	5	8	9	28	37	−9	23^[a]
10	Zadarkomerc	22	5	6	11	27	40	−13	21^[b]
11	Slaven Belupo	22	5	6	11	24	37	−13	21^[b]
12	Mladost 127	22	5	4	13	22	42	−20	19

Source: RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head away goals scored
Notes:

1. Head-to-head record: Cibalia–NK Zagreb 1–1, NK Zagreb–Cibalia 2–2.
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

Source: RSSSF.org
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

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

Source: RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head away goals scored
(C) Champions

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

Source: RSSSF.org
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

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

Source: RSSSF.org
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head away goals scored
(R) Relegated

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

Source: RSSSF.org
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

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

See also

• 1998–99 Croatian Second Football League
• 1998–99 Croatian Football Cup

External links

• 1998–99 in Croatian Football at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation