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 →

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

20 February 1977

Colombia	0 – 0	Brazil
	Report

El Campín, Bogotá

Attendance: 55,439

Referee: Comesaña (Argentina)

24 February 1977

Colombia	0 – 1	Paraguay
		Jara 26'

El Campín, Bogotá

Attendance: 45,838

Referee: Orozco Guerrero (Peru)

6 March 1977

Paraguay	1 – 1	Colombia
Jara 90'		Vilarete 58'

Defensores del Chaco, Asunción

Attendance: 30,154

Referee: Cerullo Giuliano (Uruguay)

9 March 1977

Brazil	6 – 0	Colombia
Roberto 15', 31' Zico 25' Marinho 41', 55' Rivellino 85'	Report

Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 162,774

Referee: Coerezza (Argentina)

13 March 1977

Paraguay	0 – 1	Brazil
	Report	Insfrán 59' (o.g.)

Defensores del Chaco, Asunción

Attendance: 40,490

Referee: Pestarino (Argentina)

20 March 1977

Brazil	1 – 1	Paraguay
Roberto 6' (pen.)	Report	Báez 54'

Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 94,947

Referee: Barreto Ruiz (Uruguay)

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

9 February 1977

Venezuela	1 – 1	Uruguay
Flores 88'		Oliveira 5'

Brígido Iriarte Stadium, Caracas

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Ramirez (Colombia)

27 February 1977

Bolivia	1 – 0	Uruguay
Jiménez 48'

Estadio Libertador Simón Bolívar, La Paz

Attendance: 20,306

Referee: Arppi Filho (Brazil)

6 March 1977

Venezuela	1 – 3	Bolivia
Iriarte 86'		Mezza 5' Jiménez 76' Aguilar 80'

Brígido Iriarte Stadium, Caracas

Attendance: 5,034

Referee: Silvagno Cavanna (Chile)

13 March 1977

Bolivia	2 – 0	Venezuela
Jiménez 17' Aragonés 53'

Estadio Libertador Simón Bolívar, La Paz

Attendance: 21,217

Referee: Pérez Nuñez (Peru)

17 March 1977

Uruguay	2 – 0	Venezuela
Pizzani 11', 83'

Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 4,383

Referee: Marques (Brazil)

27 March 1977

Uruguay	2 – 2	Bolivia
Pereyra 23', 49'		Aguilar 25', 59'

Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 7,477

Referee: Ithurralde (Argentina)

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

20 February 1977

Ecuador	1 – 1	Peru
Paz y Miño 81'		Oblitas 43'

Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito

Attendance: 39,576

Referee: Rohrig (Brazil)

27 February 1977

Ecuador	0 – 1	Chile
		Gamboa 33'

Modelo, Guayaquil

Attendance: 51,200

Referee: Romero (Argentina)

6 March 1977

Chile	1 – 1	Peru
Ahumada 42'		Muñante 70'

Nacional, Santiago

Attendance: 67,983

Referee: Faville Neto (Brazil)

12 March 1977

Peru	4 – 0	Ecuador
José Velásquez 19' Oblitas 48', 50' Luces 63'

Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 43,319

Referee: Barrancos Alvarez (Bolivia)

20 March 1977

Chile	3 – 0	Ecuador
Figueroa 29', 55' Castro 40'

Nacional, Santiago

Attendance: 15,571

Referee: Llobregat Vicedo (Venezuela)

26 March 1977

Peru	2 – 0	Chile
Sotil 49' Oblitas 54'

Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 62,000

Referee: Coelho (Brazil)

Peru advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

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

10 July 1977

Brazil	1 – 0	Peru
Gil 53'	Relatorio

Pascual Guerrero, Cali, Colombia

Attendance: 50,345

Referee: Comesana (Argentina)

14 July 1977

Brazil	8 – 0	Bolivia
Zico 5', 10', 27' (pen.), 60' Roberto 22' Gil 54' Cerezo 70' Marcelo 89'	Relatorio

Pascual Guerrero, Cali, Colombia

Attendance: 38,037

Referee: Cavanna (Chile)

17 July 1977

Peru	5 – 0	Bolivia
Cubillas 31', 44' José Velásquez 65', 89' Rojas 74'	Relatorio

Pascual Guerrero, Cali, Colombia

Attendance: 32,511

Referee: Barreto Ruiz (Uruguay)

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)