# 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.

## 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 qualified directly while 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.
| Pot A | Pot B | Pot C |
| Brazil  Paraguay  Uruguay | Chile  Colombia  Peru | Bolivia  Ecuador  Venezuela |

## 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.

## 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.

## 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.
$^1$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) |
    $^1$ 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)