The 1998 ISF Women's World Championship for softball was held July 20–30, 1998 in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, Japan. A fourth straight title was won by the team from the United States, coached by Margie Wright, which avenged its only loss of the tournament to Australia by a 1-0 margin in the final.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Japan |
| Teams | 17 |
| Final positions | |
Champions |  United States (6th title) |
Runner-up |  Australia |
Third place | Japan |
| Fourth place |  China |
← 1994 2002 → | |
Pool Play
editGroup I
edit| GP | W | L | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States
|
8 | 8 | 0 |
 Canada
|
8 | 6 | 2 |
 Italy
|
8 | 6 | 2 |
 Chinese Taipei
|
8 | 5 | 3 |
 Netherlands
|
8 | 4 | 4 |
 Czech Republic
|
8 | 3 | 5 |
 Colombia
|
8 | 3 | 5 |
 South Africa
|
8 | 1 | 7 |
 Denmark
|
8 | 0 | 8 |
Group II
edit| GP | W | L | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia
|
7 | 7 | 0 |
| Japan
|
7 | 6 | 1 |
| China
|
7 | 5 | 2 |
 Venezuela
|
7 | 3 | 4 |
 Netherlands Antilles
|
7 | 3 | 4 |
 New Zealand
|
7 | 3 | 4 |
 South Korea
|
7 | 1 | 6 |
 Philippines
|
7 | 0 | 7 |
Playoffs
editDay One
edit| Italy |
1-0 | Venezuela
|
| China |
7-0 | Chinese Taipei
|
| United States |
1-0 | Japan
|
| Australia |
1-0 | Canada
|
Venezuela and Chinese Taipei Eliminated.
Day Two
edit| Japan |
2-0 | Italy
|
| China |
3-0 | Canada
|
Italy and Canada Eliminated.
Day Three
edit| Canada |
1-0 | Italy
|
Medal Round
edit| Day Two | Bronze Medal | Gold Medal | |||||||||||
| A1 | United States | 1 | B1 | Australia | 0 | ||||||||
| B1 | Australia | 2 | A1 | United States | 1 | ||||||||
| A1 | United States | 4 | |||||||||||
| B2 | Japan | 0 | |||||||||||
| B2 | Japan | 3 | |||||||||||
| B3 | China | 0 | |||||||||||