The tournament was originally planned to take place in Haiti, but was moved due to disputes between the Haitian government and the Haitian Football Federation.[2] This was the only edition of CONCACAF's Women's Championship or the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup in which the traditional superpower of CONCACAF women's football, the United States, did not participate. The U.S. team directly qualified for the 1999 Women's World Cup as hosts of the event.
The 1998 UNCAF Qualifying Tournament took place in Guatemala City between 19 July and 25 July 1998. It was won by the hosts Guatemala after defeating Haiti 1–0 in the final match. Guatemala, Haiti and Costa Rica qualified for the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship.
The CFU Qualifying Round consisted of home-and-away ties. It is not clear whether Martinique and Puerto Rico received a bye to the finals, or whether their (unknown) intended opponents withdrew.