# Football at the 1979 Pan American Games

The eighth edition of the Men's Football Tournament at the Pan American Games was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 2 July to 14 July 1979. Nine teams competed in a first round-robin competition, with Brazil defending the title. After the preliminary round there was a second round, followed by a knock-out stage.
Games were played at Estadio Country Club, Estadio Sixto Escobar and Estadio Hiram Bithorn. Brazil won their third gold medal after beating Cuba in the final.

## Participants

* Argentina
* Bermuda
* Brazil
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Dominican Republic
* Guatemala
* Puerto Rico
* United States

## Preliminary round
### Group A

| Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1 | Argentina | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | Costa Rica | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Bermuda | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |

### Group B

| Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1 | Brazil | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | Cuba | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Guatemala | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |

### Group C

| Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1 | United States | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 2 | Puerto Rico | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Dominican Republic | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |

## Second round
### Group A

| Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1 | Brazil | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 2 | Costa Rica | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 3 | Puerto Rico | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 |

### Group B

| Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| 1 | Cuba | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2 | Argentina | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | United States | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 |

## Fifth-place match
### Notes

* ↑ The match was scratched and Puerto Rico awarded fifth place as the US team had flown home after the group stage.

## Awards

* 1979 Pan American Games winners
* Brazil Third title

## Medalists

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men's tournament | Brazil 1 – Solitinho 2 – Luís Cláudio 3 – Wagner Basílio 4 – Valdoir 5 – Vítor 6 – João Luiz 7 – Mica 8 – Cléo 9 – Silva 10 – Jackson 11 – Silvinho 12 – Luís Henrique 13 – Oswaldo 14 – Édson Boaro 15 – Gilcimar 16 – Rogério 17 – Cristovão 18 – Jérson (HC – Mário Travaglini) | Cuba 1 – José Francisco Reinoso 2 – Francisco López Ríos 3 – Raimundo Frometa 4 – Luis Sánchez 7 – Andrés Roldán 8 – Amado Povea 9 – Dagoberto Lara 10 – Ramón Núñez 11 – Jorge Maya 12 – Luis Dreke 13 – Pedro Fenton 14 – Regino Delgado 15 – Jorge Massó 17 – Carlos Loredo 18 – Guillermo Mestre 19 – Roberto Pereira 20 – Fermín Hugo Madera 21 – Calixto Martínez (HC – Roberto Hernández) | Argentina 1 – Oscar Rogélio Quiroga 2 – José Omar Beccerica 3 – Victorio Ocaño 4 – Lucio Del Mul 5 – Juan Cabrera 6 – Víctor Binello 7 – Héctor Boccanelli 8 – Eusebio Roldán 9 – Víctor Sosa 10 – Salvador Mastrosimone 11 – Antonio Alderete 12 – Guillermo Bosio 13 – Enrique Veloso 14 – Luis Rolfo 15 – Roberto Gasparini 16 – Marcelo Fredes 17 – Luis Amuchástegui 18 – Osvaldo Coloccini (HC – Roberto Saporiti) |

## Goalscorers

There were 51 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 3 goals per match.
4 goals
* Silva
* Roberto Pereira
* Donald Ebert
3 goals
* Víctor Sosa
* José Manuel Rojas
2 goals
* Héctor Bocanelli
* Jérson
* Mica
* Perry Van der Beck
1 goal
* Marcelo Fredes
* Salvador Mastrosimone
* Enrique Veloso
* Stephan Riley
* Cléo
* Cristóvão
* Edson Boaro
* Gilcimar
* Silvinho
* Wagner Basílio
* Rafael Camacho
* Herberth Quesada
* Carlos Solano
* Luís Geraldo Solano
* Jorge Ulate
* Regino Delgado
* Jorge Maya
* Andrés Roldán
* Jorge Escobar
* Adán Paniagua
* Luis Alberto Correa
* Mayo Sánchez
* John Hayne
* Joe Morrone
* James Stamatis
1 own goal
* Nelson Bastos (for Argentina)
Source: RSSSF