1979 Copa América
The 1979 edition of the Copa América association football tournament was played between July 18 and December 12. 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 | July 18 – December 12 |
| Teams | 10 (from 1 confederation) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} 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] |
Squads
First round
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 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Venezuela |
4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | −11 | 2 |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Brazil |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 5 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Bolivia |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 |
 Argentina |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 3 |
| Argentina | 3–0 | Bolivia |
|---|---|---|
Passarella  1' Gáspari 15' Maradona 65' |
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 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Ecuador |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 2 |
Semifinals
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}
Finals
First leg
Second leg
Play-off
As both teams finished tied on points, Paraguay won the playoff on aggregate goals (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.
References
- "Especial Copa America: Los Mejores Jugadores edición por edición" (in Spanish). Goal.com. 2010-04-15. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
- Oliver, Guy (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness publishing. p. 567. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.