The 1997–98 UEFA Cup was won by Internazionale in an all-Italian final against Lazio.

It was the first instance of the UEFA Cup final being a one-game contest at a neutral stadium, having previously being decided over two legs with each team having one home game.

This was the first tournament where the 2nd placed team of major European leagues went to the Champions League instead of the UEFA Cup.

For first time, one nation (France) was represented by seven teams: Strasbourg, Auxerre, Bastia, Nantes, Lyon, Bordeaux and Metz.

According to 1996 UEFA ranking, Spain took a slot to Germany (but this one took the place of the holders), the Netherlands took a place from Russia, while Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Hungary took a slot from Israel, FR Yugoslavia and Poland (but this one took the place of troubled Albania).

The access list was finally decreased to 102 clubs, because only the 16 best national champions excluded from the Champions League group stage entered in the UEFA Cup.

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: Notes 2–2 on aggregate; Dinamo Minsk won on away goals.

Hapoel Petah Tikva won 3–1 on aggregate.

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk won 8–1 on aggregate.

Boby Brno won 7–4 on aggregate.

Apollon Limassol won 4–1 on aggregate.

Hajduk Split won 6–1 on aggregate.

2–2 on aggregate; Viking won 5–4 on penalties.

KR Reykjavík won 4–1 on aggregate.

Hapoel Petah Tikva won 1–0 on aggregate.

The original 2nd leg game finished 2–2 (scorers: Shirko, Alenichev – Lota 2x) on 30 September (Report), but had to be replayed because the goal posts were 8 cm short of the prescribed height.

2–2 on aggregate; Twente won on away goals.

3–3 on aggregate; Steaua București won on away goals.

1–1 on aggregate; Twente won on away goals.

The draw for the third round was held on 7 November 1997.

2–2 on aggregate; Atlético Madrid won on away goals.