1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

Tournament details
Dates	20 February 1977 – 14 July 1977
Teams	9 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	21
Goals scored	55 (2.62 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Zico (5 goals)
← 1974 1982 →

Qualification for championships (CONMEBOL)
FIFA World Cup 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
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Listed below are the dates and results for the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the South American Zone (CONMEBOL). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification.

A total of 10 CONMEBOL teams entered the competition. The South American zone was allocated 3.5 places (out of 16) in the final tournament. Argentina, the hosts, qualified automatically, leaving 2.5 spots open for competition between 9 teams.

Format

There would be two rounds of play:

• First Round: The 9 teams were divided into 3 groups of 3 teams each. The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
• Final Round: The 3 teams would play against each other once in a neutral venue. The group winner and runner-up would qualify. The third-placed team would advance to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

First round

Group 1

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Brazil	6	4	2	2	0	8	1	+7
2	Paraguay	4	4	1	2	1	3	3	0
3	Colombia	2	4	0	2	2	1	8	−7

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Brazil advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Bolivia	7	4	3	1	0	8	3	+5
2	Uruguay	4	4	1	2	1	5	4	+1
3	Venezuela	1	4	0	1	3	2	8	−6

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Bolivia advanced to the Final Round.

Group 3

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Peru	6	4	2	2	0	8	2	+6
2	Chile	5	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2
3	Ecuador	1	4	0	1	3	1	9	−8

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Peru advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Brazil	4	2	2	0	0	9	0	+9
2	Peru	2	2	1	0	1	5	1	+4
3	Bolivia	0	2	0	0	2	0	13	−13

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Brazil and Peru qualified. Bolivia advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

Inter-confederation play-offs

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Hungary	9–2	Bolivia	6–0	3–2

Qualified teams

The following three teams from CONMEBOL qualified for the final tournament.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
Argentina	Hosts	6 July 1966	6 (1930, 1934, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1974)
Brazil	Final Round winners	14 July 1977	10 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974)
Peru	Final Round winners	17 July 1977	2 (1930, 1970)

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Goalscorers

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

See also

• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification
• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)

External links

• 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) at FIFA.com