1953 South American Championship

The South American Championship 1953 was a football tournament held in Peru. It was won by Paraguay with Brazil second. Argentina, and Colombia withdrew from the tournament. Francisco Molina from Chile became top scorer of the tournament with 7 goals.

1953 South American Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Peru
Dates	22 February – 1 April
Teams	7 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Paraguay (1st title)
Runners-up	Brazil
Third place	Uruguay
Fourth place	Chile
Tournament statistics
Matches played	22
Goals scored	67 (3.05 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Francisco Molina (7 goals)
← 1949 1955 →

Venues

Lima
Estadio Nacional de Lima
Capacity: 50,000

Final round

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Brazil	6	4	0	2	15	6	+9	8
Paraguay	6	3	2	1	11	6	+5	8
Uruguay	6	3	1	2	15	6	+9	7
Chile	6	3	1	2	10	10	0	7
Peru	6	3	1	2	4	6	−2	7
Bolivia	6	1	1	4	6	15	−9	3
Ecuador	6	0	2	4	1	13	−12	2

22 February 1953

Bolivia	1–0	Peru
Ugarte  53'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: George Rhoden (England)

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25 February 1953

Paraguay	3–0	Chile
Fernández  54', 75' Berni  78'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Richard Maddison (England)

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25 February 1953

Uruguay	2–0	Bolivia
Puente  11' Carlos Romero  88'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Charles Dean (England)

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28 February 1953

Peru	1–0	Ecuador
Gómez Sánchez  78'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: George Rhoden (England)

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1 March 1953

Brazil	8–1	Bolivia
Julinho  18', 20', 42', 52' Francisco Rodrigues  25', 44' Pinga  39', 60'		Ugarte  73' (pen.)

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Richard Maddison (England)

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1 March 1953

Chile	3–2	Uruguay
Molina  5', 55', 67'		Morel  70' Balseiro  81'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Charles Dean (England)

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4 March 1953

Paraguay	0–0	Ecuador

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Mário Vianna (Brazil)

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4 March 1953

Chile	0–0	Peru

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Richard Maddison (England)

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8 March 1953

Bolivia	1–1	Ecuador
Alcón  25'		Guzmán  6'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Charles McKenna (England)

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8 March 1953

Peru	2–2	Paraguay
Gómez Sánchez  47' Terry  53'		Fernández  36' Berni  77'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Richard Maddison (England)

Match was awarded to Peru due to unsportsmanlike behaviour of Paraguay by making one extra change.^[1]
Milner Ayala was banned for three years for kicking the referee.

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12 March 1953

Paraguay	2–2	Uruguay
Atilio López  5' Berni  52'		Balseiro  36', 55'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: David Gregory (England)

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12 March 1953

Brazil	2–0	Ecuador
Ademir  18' Cláudio  55'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Richard Maddison (England)

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15 March 1953

Brazil	1–0	Uruguay
Ipojucan  87'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Charles McKenna (England)

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16 March 1953

Paraguay	2–1	Bolivia
Angel Romero  17' Berni  22'		Ramon Santos  76'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: David Gregory (England)

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19 March 1953

Chile	3–0	Ecuador
Molina  33', 47' Cremaschi  70'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Richard Maddison (England)

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19 March 1953

Peru	1–0	Brazil
Navarrete  51'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Charles McKenna (England)

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23 March 1953

Brazil	3–2	Chile
Julinho  1' Zizinho  53' Baltazar  70'		Molina  62', 76'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Richard Maddison (England)

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23 March 1953

Uruguay	6–0	Ecuador
Méndez  12' Puente  51' Peláez  58' Morel  60' Carlos Romero  86' Balseiro  88'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: David Gregory (England)

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27 March 1953

Paraguay	2–1	Brazil
Atilio López  49' León  89'		Nílton Santos  12'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Charles Dean (England)

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28 March 1953

Chile	2–2	Bolivia
Meléndez  28' Díaz Carmona  52'		Ramón Santos  15' Alcón  49'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Richard Maddison (England)

Match was suspended after 66th min, and awarded to Chile due to unsportsmanlike behaviour of Bolivia.

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28 March 1953

Uruguay	3–0	Peru
Peláez  23', 67' Carlos Romero  71'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Mário Vianna (Brazil)

Play-off

Main article: 1953 South American Championship Final

1 April 1953^[2]

Paraguay	3–2	Brazil
Atilio López  14' Gavilán  17' Fernández  41'		Baltazar  56', 65'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Charles Dean (England)

Result

1953 South American Championship Champions
Paraguay 1st title

Goal scorers

7 Goals

• Molina

5 Goals

• Julinho

4 Goals

• Berni
• Fernández
• Balseiro

3 Goals

• Baltazar
• Atilio López
• Carlos Romero
• Peláez

2 Goals

• Alcón
• Ramón Santos
• Ugarte
• Pinga
• Francisco Rodrigues
• Gómez Sánchez
• Morel
• Puente

1 Goal

• Ademir
• Cláudio
• Ipojucan
• Nílton Santos
• Zizinho
• Cremaschi
• Díaz Carmona
• Meléndez
• Guzmán
• Angel Romero
• León
• Gavilán
• Navarrete
• Terry
• Méndez