| 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 MorelJorge Peredo (4 goals each) |
| Best player | Carlos Caszely[1] |
←1975 1983 → | |
The1979 edition of theCopa Américaassociation 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 championsPeru were given a bye into the semi-finals.
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 thesemifinal.
| 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 |
| Argentina | 3–0 | Bolivia |
|---|---|---|
Passarella 1'Gáspari 15'Maradona 65' |
| 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 CosciaRoberto Osvaldo DíazJorge GáspariCarlos Angel LópezDiego MaradonaPaulo Roberto FalcãoPalhinhaRoberto DinamiteMario SotoLeonardo VélizPatricio YáñezGabriel ChaparroErnesto DíazArnoldo IguaránJaime MorónFélix ValverdeJorge Luis AlarcónFausto KlingerMario TenorioCarlos Torres GarcésJuvencio OsorioAlicio SolalindeRoberto MosqueraAlberto BicaDenis MilarRubén PazRodolfo Carbajal| Editions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Finals |
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| Squads | |||
| Qualification | |||
| Related topics | |||
