1979 Copa América
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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.
| 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[1] |
← 1975 1983 → | |
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.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Semi-finals | Finals | |||||||||
| Paraguay | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| Brazil | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| Paraguay (agg.) | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Chile | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Peru | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| Chile | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
Chile won 3–1 on points.
Paraguay won 3–1 on points.
As the teams were tied 2–2 on points, a play-off on a neutral ground was required to determine the winner.
The play-off match finished tied after extra time expired, meaning the teams finished 3–3 on points. Paraguay won on aggregate 3–1.
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
2 goals
1 goal
- Hugo Coscia
- Roberto Osvaldo Díaz
- Jorge Gáspari
- Carlos Angel López
- Diego Maradona
- Paulo Roberto Falcão
- Palhinha
- Roberto Dinamite
- Mario Soto
- Leonardo Véliz
- Patricio Yáñez
- Gabriel Chaparro
- Ernesto Díaz
- Arnoldo Iguarán
- Jaime Morón
- Félix Valverde
- Jorge Luis Alarcón
- Fausto Klinger
- Mario Tenorio
- Carlos Torres Garcés
- Juvencio Osorio
- Alicio Solalinde
- Roberto Mosquera
- Alberto Bica
- Denis Milar
- Rubén Paz
- Rodolfo Carbajal
- ^ "Especial Copa America: Los Mejores Jugadores edición por edición" (in Spanish). Goal.com. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
- ^ a b c Oliver, Guy (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness publishing. p. 567. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.