1979 South American U-20 Championship

The South American Youth Championship 1979 was held in Montevideo and Paysandú, Uruguay. It also served as qualification for the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship.

1979 South American Youth Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Uruguay
Dates	12–31 January
Teams	9
Final positions
Champions	Uruguay (6th title)
Runners-up	Argentina
Third place	Paraguay
Fourth place	Brazil
← 1977 1981 →

Teams

Diego Maradona and Rubén Paz, two rising stars of Argentina and Uruguay respectively

The following teams entered the tournament:

•  Argentina
•  Bolivia
•  Brazil
•  Chile
•  Colombia
•  Ecuador
•  Paraguay
•  Peru
•  Uruguay (host)

First round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Uruguay	3	3	0	0	9	0	+9	6	Advance to Final round
2	Argentina	3	2	0	1	9	1	+8	4
3	Peru	3	1	0	2	2	7	−5	2
4	Ecuador	3	0	0	3	0	12	−12	0

Source: RSSSF

12 January	Uruguay	5–0	Ecuador
13 January	Argentina	4–0	Peru
18 January	Argentina	5–0	Ecuador
	Uruguay	3–0	Peru
22 January	Peru	2–0	Ecuador
	Uruguay	1–0	Argentina

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Paraguay	4	3	1	0	13	1	+12	7	Advance to Final round
2	Brazil	4	2	1	1	4	3	+1	5
3	Chile	4	2	0	2	7	8	−1	4
4	Colombia	4	2	0	2	7	9	−2	4
5	Bolivia	4	0	0	4	2	12	−10	0

Source: RSSSF

12 January	Paraguay	6–0	Chile
	Colombia	2–1	Brazil
14 January	Colombia	5–1	Bolivia
	Brazil	1–0	Chile
17 January	Paraguay	5–0	Colombia
	Brazil	1–0	Bolivia
19 January	Chile	2–0	Colombia
	Paraguay	1–0	Bolivia
22 January	Chile	5–1	Bolivia
	Brazil	1–1	Paraguay

Fifth-place match

Chile	3 – 1	Peru

Final round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Uruguay	3	2	1	0	3	1	+2	5	Qualification for 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship
2	Argentina	3	1	2	0	1	0	+1	4
3	Paraguay	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	3	Advance to Inter-continental qualification
4	Brazil	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0

Source: RSSSF

25 January	Argentina	0–0	Paraguay
	Uruguay	1–0	Brazil
28 January	Paraguay	2–1	Brazil
	Uruguay	0–0	Argentina
31 January	Argentina	1–0	Brazil
	Uruguay	2–1	Paraguay

1979 South American Youth Championship
Uruguay Sixth title

Inter-continental qualification

The two best performing teams qualified directly for the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship.

•  Argentina
•  Uruguay

Paraguay also qualified, after winning an intercontinental play-off against Israel and Australia.^[1] Matches were played in Asunción, Paraguay.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Paraguay	4	4	0	0	10	1	+9	8	Qualification for 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship
2	Israel	4	0	2	2	1	5	−4	2
3	Australia	4	0	2	2	0	5	−5	2

Source: RSSSF

7 February	Paraguay	2–0	Australia
9 February	Israel	0–0	Australia
11 February	Paraguay	3–0	Israel
14 February	Australia	0–0	Israel
16 February	Paraguay	3–0	Australia
18 February	Paraguay	2–1	Israel