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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.

Format

Teams were divided into 3 groups of 3 teams each. The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The 2 group winners with the best record would qualify. The group winner with the worst record would advance to the CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

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.

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'

Peru	0–2	Uruguay
		Sosa 46' Alzamendi 69'

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

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

Uruguay	2–0	Bolivia
Sosa 31' Francescoli 39'

Uruguay	2–0	Peru
Sosa 45', 58'

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'

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

Ecuador	0–0	Colombia

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

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

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

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'

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

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

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

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

Brazil	2–0	Chile
Careca 49'

The match was abandoned in the 67th minute with Brazil leading 1–0 after Chile walked off the field when a firecracker thrown from the crowd supposedly hit goalkeeper Roberto Rojas in the head, leaving him bloodied and having to be carried from the pitch on a stretcher; a subsequent FIFA investigation found that Rojas's injury was self-inflicted, using a razor blade concealed in his glove. On 13 September, the match was awarded 2–0 to Brazil, and Chile were banned from qualifying for the next World Cup. Rojas was given a lifetime ban from competitive football (lifted in 2001), as was Chile manager Orlando Aravena, vice-captain Fernando Astengo and team doctor Daniel Rodriguez.

Inter-confederation play-offs

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 Cup
Argentina	Defending champions	29 June 1986	9 (1930, 1934, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986)
Uruguay	Group 1 winners	24 September 1989	8 (1930, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986)
Brazil	Group 3 winners	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)

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)

Notes

1. The Chile–Venezuela match was played on neutral ground in Argentina instead of in Chile because Chile was penalised for rioting during the Chile vs Brazil match.

External links

• South American zone at FIFA.com

• 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
• 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
• FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
• 1989 in South American football