1979 Copa América

1979 Copa América
Tournament details
Dates	18 July – 12 December
Teams	10 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Paraguay (2nd title)
Runners-up	Chile
Tournament statistics
Matches played	25
Goals scored	63 (2.52 per match)
Attendance	1,144,000 (45,760 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Eugenio Morel ; Jorge Peredo ; (4 goals each)
Best player(s)	Carlos Caszely
	← 1975 1983 →

The 1979 edition of the Copa América association football tournament was played between 18 July and 12 December. It was not held in a particular country, all matches were played on a home and away basis. Defending champions Peru were given a bye into the semi-finals.

Squads

Group stage

The teams were drawn into three groups, consisting of three teams each. Each team played twice (home and away) against the other teams in their group, with two points for a win, one point for a draw, nil points for a loss. The winner of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Peru qualified automatically as holders for the

semifinal

.

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Chile	4	2	1	1	10	2	+8	5
Colombia	4	2	1	1	5	2	+3	5
Venezuela	4	0	2	2	1	12	−11	2

1 August 1979

Venezuela	0–0	Colombia

Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal

Attendance: 18,000

Referee: Luis Barrancos (Bolivia)

8 August 1979

Venezuela	1–1	Chile
Carvajal 70'		Peredo 81'

Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal

Attendance: 14,000

Referee: César Pagano (Peru)

15 August 1979

Colombia	1–0	Chile
Díaz 21'

Estadio El Campín, Bogotá

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil)

22 August 1979

Colombia	4–0	Venezuela
Chaparro 59' Morón 86'

Estadio El Campín, Bogotá

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Carlos Espósito (Argentina)

29 August 1979

Chile	7–0	Venezuela
Peredo 3', 59' Véliz 31' Rivas 38', 54' (pen.) Soto 80' Yáñez 84'		Páez

Santiago

Attendance: 70,000

Referee: Enrique Labó (Peru

)

5 September 1979

Chile	2–0	Colombia
Caszely 14' Peredo 58'		Valverde 54'

Santiago

Attendance: 85,000

Referee: Wilfredo Cáceres (Paraguay

)

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Brazil	4	2	1	1	7	5	+2	5
Bolivia	4	2	0	2	4	7	−3	4
Argentina	4	1	1	2	7	6	+1	3

18 July 1979

Bolivia	2–1	Argentina
Reynaldo 29', 66'		López 5'

Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Octavio Sierra (Colombia)

26 July 1979

Bolivia	2–1	Brazil
Aragonés 36' (pen.), 73'	Report	Roberto Dinamite 30' (pen.)

Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Octavio Sánchez (Colombia)

2 August 1979

Brazil	2–1	Argentina
Zico 2' Tita 54'	Report	Coscia 29'

Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 130,000

Referee: Edison Pérez (Peru

)

8 August 1979

Argentina	3–0	Bolivia
Passarella 1' Gáspari 15' Maradona 65'

José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Sergio Vázquez Sánchez (Chile)

16 August 1979

Brazil	2–0	Bolivia
Tita 46' Zico 90'	Report

Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: José Vergara Guerrero (Venezuela)

23 August 1979

Argentina	2–2	Brazil
Díaz 71' Gallego 27'	Report	Sócrates 17', 65' (pen.) Zico 27'

Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires

Attendance: 68,000

Referee: Roque Cerullo (Uruguay

)

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Paraguay	4	2	2	0	6	3	+3	6
Uruguay	4	1	2	1	5	5	0	4
Ecuador	4	1	0	3	4	7	−3	2

29 August 1979

Ecuador	1–2	Paraguay
Torres Garcés 64' (pen. )	Report	Talavera 22' Solalinde 77'

Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Carlos Espósito (Argentina)

5 September 1979

Ecuador	2–1	Uruguay
Alarcón 9'	Report	Victorino 79' (pen.) Castillo 65'

Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil)

13 September 1979

Paraguay	2–0	Ecuador
E. Morel 27' Osorio 48'	Report

Defensores del Chaco, Asunción

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Abel Gnecco (Argentina

)

16 September 1979

Uruguay	2–1	Ecuador
Bica 4' Victorino 57' (pen) Maneiro 78'	Report	Ron 81'

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Oscar Scolfaro (Brazil)

20 September 1979

Paraguay	0–0	Uruguay
Ovelar 35'	Report

Defensores del Chaco, Asunción

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Sergio Vásquez Sánchez (Chile

)

26 September 1979

Uruguay	2–2	Paraguay
Milar 54' (pen.) Paz 83'	Report	E. Morel 34', 88'

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 18,000

Referee: Edison Pérez (Peru)

Knockout stage

Semi-finals			Finals



Paraguay	2	2

Brazil	1	2
			Paraguay (agg.)	3	0	0

			Chile	0	1	0
Peru	1	0

Chile	2	0

Semi-finals

17 October 1979

Peru	1–2	Chile
Mosquera 71'		Caszely 36', 76'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil

)

24 October 1979

Chile	0–0	Peru

Estadio Nacional, Santiago

Attendance: 75,000

Referee: Juan Daniel Cardellino (Uruguay

)

Chile won 3–1 on points.

24 October 1979

Paraguay	2–1	Brazil
E. Morel 16' Talavera 35'	Report	Palhinha 79'

Defensores del Chaco, Asunción

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Ramón Barreto (Uruguay

)

31 October 1979

Brazil	2–2	Paraguay
Falcão 29' Sócrates 61' (pen.)	Report	Romero 68'

Maracaná, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: Carlos Espósito (Argentina

)

Paraguay won 3–1 on points.

Finals

28 November 1979 [2]

Paraguay	3–0	Chile
M. Morel 36'

Defensores del Chaco, Asunción

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Luis Gregorio da Rosa (Uruguay)

5 December 1979 ^[2]

Chile	1–0	Paraguay
Rivas 10'

Santiago

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Ramón Barreto (Uruguay

)

As the teams were tied 2–2 on points, a play-off on a neutral ground was required to determine the winner.

11 December 1979 [2]

Paraguay	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Chile

José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Attendance: 32,000

Referee: Arnaldo Cézar Coelho (Brazil)

The play-off match finished tied after extra time expired, meaning the teams finished 3–3 on points. Paraguay won on aggregate 3–1.

Goal scorers

With four goals, Jorge Peredo and Eugenio Morel are the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 63 goals were scored by 41 different players, with none of them credited as own goal.

4 goals

3 goals