1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

The South American (CONMEBOL) zone of qualification for the 1990 FIFA World Cup saw 9 teams competing for 2 direct places at the finals, with one extra place potentially on offer to the winner of a play-off. CONMEBOL member Argentina qualified automatically as reigning World Cup champions.

1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

← 1986 1994 →

Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification

Format

Teams were divided into 3 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The 2 group winners with the best record qualified directly while the group winner with the worst record advanced to the CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.^[1]

Draw

The draw for the qualifying groups took place in Zürich, Switzerland on 12 December 1987. During the draw teams were drawn from 3 seeded pots into the 3 qualifying groups.

Pot A	Pot B	Pot C
Brazil  Paraguay  Uruguay	Chile  Colombia  Peru	Bolivia  Ecuador  Venezuela

Groups

Group 1

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

BOL – 2–1 2–1  PER 1–2 – 0–2  URU 2–0 2–0 –

Uruguay qualified with the second-best record among the group winners.

Bolivia	2–1	Peru
Melgar 45' (pen.) Ramallo 53'		del Solar 43'

20 August 1989

Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz

Attendance: 43,000

Referee: Armando Pérez Hoyos (Colombia)

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Peru	0–2	Uruguay
		Sosa 46' Alzamendi 69'

27 August 1989

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Carlos Espósito (Argentina)

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Bolivia	2–1	Uruguay
Domínguez 38' (o.g.) Peña 47'		Sosa 49'

3 September 1989

Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz

Attendance: 52,000

Referee: José Vergara Guerrero (Venezuela)

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Peru	1–2	Bolivia
González 53'		Montaño 45' Sánchez 77'

10 September 1989

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 9,500

Referee: Carlos Maciel (Paraguay)

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Uruguay	2–0	Bolivia
Sosa 31' Francescoli 39'

17 September 1989

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 70,000

Referee: Gastón Castro (Chile)

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Uruguay	2–0	Peru
Sosa 45', 58'

24 September 1989

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 57,000

Referee: José Roberto Wright (Brazil)

Group 2

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Colombia 4 2 1 1 5 3 +2 5  Paraguay 4 2 0 2 6 7 −1 4  Ecuador 4 1 1 2 4 5 −1 3

COL – 2–0 2–1  ECU 0–0 – 3–1  PAR 2–1 2–1 –

Colombia advanced to the CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off with the worst record among the group winners.

Colombia	2–0	Ecuador
Iguarán 32', 72'

20 August 1989

Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla

Referee: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil)

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Paraguay	2–1	Colombia
Ferreira 48' Chilavert 90' (pen.)		Iguarán 87'

27 August 1989

Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción

Referee: Hernán Silva (Chile)

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Ecuador	0–0	Colombia

3 September 1989

Estadio Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo, Guayaquil

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Ricardo Calabria (Argentina)

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Paraguay	2–1	Ecuador
Cabañas 36' Ferreira 67'		Avilés 84'

10 September 1989

Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción

Attendance: 60,000

Referee: José Ramírez Calle (Peru)

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Colombia	2–1	Paraguay
Iguarán 56' Hernández 67'		Mendoza 45'

17 September 1989

Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla

Referee: Juan Daniel Cardellino (Uruguay)

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Ecuador	3–1	Paraguay
Aguinaga 26' Marsetti 72' Avilés 82'		Neffa 18'

24 September 1989

Estadio Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo, Guayaquil

Attendance: 18,000

Referee: Arnaldo Cézar Coelho (Brazil)

Group 3

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Brazil 4 3 1 0 13 1 +12 7  Chile 4 2 1 1 9 4 +5 5  Venezuela 4 0 0 4 1 18 −17 0

BRA – 2–0 6–0  CHI 1–1 – 5–0  VEN 0–4 1–3 –

Brazil qualified with the best record among the group winners.

Venezuela	0–4	Brazil
		Branco 5' Romário 65' Bebeto 79', 81'

30 July 1989

Estadio Brígido Iriarte, Caracas

Referee: René Ortubé (Bolivia)

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Venezuela	1–3	Chile
Fernández 65'		Aravena 5', 33' Zamorano 71'

6 August 1989

Estadio Brígido Iriarte, Caracas

Attendance: 13,000

Referee: Antenor Montalván Miranda (Peru)

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Chile	1–1	Brazil
Basay 81'		González 56' (o.g.)

13 August 1989

Estadio Nacional, Santiago

Attendance: 60,697

Referee: Jesús Díaz Palacios (Colombia)

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Brazil	6–0	Venezuela
Careca 10', 17', 80', 86' Silas 37' Acosta 39' (o.g.)

20 August 1989

Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo

Attendance: 106,462

Referee: Ernesto Filippi (Uruguay)

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Chile	5–0	Venezuela
Letellier 14', 34', 69' Yáñez 44' Vera 84'

27 August 1989

Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza^{[note 1]}

Attendance: 19,000

Referee: Elías Jácome Guerrero (Ecuador)

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Brazil	2–0[note 2]	Chile
Careca 49'

3 September 1989

Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 141,072

Referee: Juan Carlos Loustau (Argentina)

Ranking of first-placed teams

The two group winners with the best records qualify directly for the 1990 FIFA World Cup while the group winner with the worst record entered the CONMEBOL–OFC play-offs.

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	3	Brazil	4	3	1	0	13	1	+12	10	Qualification to 1990 FIFA World Cup
2	1	Uruguay	4	3	0	1	7	2	+5	9
3	2	Colombia	4	2	1	1	5	0	+5	7	Advance to 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL–OFC play-off)

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Inter-confederation play-offs

Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL–OFC play-off)

The winner of this play-off qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Colombia	1–0	Israel	1–0	0–0

Qualified teams

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

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
Argentina	Defending champions	29 June 1986	9 (1930, 1934, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986)
Uruguay	Group 1 winners with the second-best record	24 September 1989	8 (1930, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986)
Brazil	Group 3 winners with the best record	13 September 1989	13 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986)
Colombia	CONMEBOL-OFC playoff winners	30 October 1989	1 (1962)

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

Goalscorers

5 goals

• Careca
• Rubén Sosa

4 goals

• Arnoldo Iguarán

3 goals

• Juan Carlos Letelier

2 goals

• Bebeto
• Jorge Aravena
• Raúl Aviles
• Javier Ferreira

1 goal

• José Milton Melgar
• Tito Montaño
• Álvaro Peña
• William Ramallo
• Erwin Sánchez
• Branco
• Romário
• Paulo Silas
• Ivo Basay
• Jaime Vera
• Patricio Yáñez
• Iván Zamorano
• Rubén Darío Hernández
• Albeiro Usuriaga
• Álex Aguinaga
• Pietro Marsetti
• Roberto Cabañas
• José Luis Chilavert
• Alfredo Mendoza
• Gustavo Neffa
• Andrés Aurelio González
• José del Solar
• Antonio Alzamendi
• Enzo Francescoli
• Ildemaro Fernández

1 own goal

• Hugo González (playing against Brazil)
• Alfonso Domínguez (playing against Bolivia)
• Pedro Acosta (playing against Brazil)