Tournament details | |
---|---|
Dates | 18 July – 12 December |
Teams | 10 (from 1 confederation) |
Final positions | |
Champions | ![]() |
Runners-up | ![]() |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 25 |
Goals scored | 63 (2.52 per match) |
Attendance | 1,144,000 (45,760 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | ![]() ![]() (4 goals each) |
Best player(s) | ![]() |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 5 |
![]() |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 |
![]() |
4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | −11 | 2 |
Group B
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 5 |
![]() |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 |
![]() |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 3 |
Argentina ![]() | 3–0 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Passarella ![]() Gáspari ![]() Maradona ![]() |
Group C
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 |
![]() |
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
![]() |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 2 |
Knockout stage
Semi-finals | Finals | |||||||||
![]() | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
![]() | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
![]() | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
![]() | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
![]() | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
![]() | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
Semi-finals
Chile won 3–1 on points.
Paraguay won 3–1 on points.
Finals
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.
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
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