With Argentina already destined for the 1990 World Cup as reigning world champions, two further entries from South America were decided directly through the CONMEBOL qualification. They were Uruguay, winners of Group 1, and Brazil, winners of Group 3. In addition, one further place was still obtainable, though Group 2 winners Colombia needed to tackle Oceania winners Israel over a two-legged, intercontinental play-off affair. 

No CONMEBOL nation managed to win all of their four qualifiers. Brazil amassed the highest points number (7), while Uruguay had been given an almighty scare by Bolivia, who at one stage had been four points ahead of them, as both ultimately finished on six points. In the other group, winners Colombia only totalled five points from their four fixtures. However, the lowest points total among the three groups had nothing to do with Colombia needing to go through a play-off in order to appear at Italia ’90: It had been decided beforehand that the winners from Group 2 would slot into the intercontinental play-offs. 

The CONMEBOL qualification was certainly not free from drama, as you could’ve expected. An indication was the cards count: Whilst the average number of yellow cards per qualifier in the UEFA confederation had been 2,26, its South American equivalent was 3,44. Also, there was an average of 0,5 sendings-off per game in the latter campaign, whilst the UEFA qualification only had 0,13, admittedly from a far superior number of matches (116 v 18). 

The three stand-out fixtures as far as incident was concerned, had been the two Group 3 ties between Chile and Brazil and the Group 2 clash between Paraguay and Colombia. In Santiago, Brazil striker Romário had been given a red card in the second minute for striking Chile’s Hisis, and within too long, home midfielder Ormeño followed suit for an attempt at severing the leg of visiting wing-back Branco with a shocking tackle. Eight yellow cards were handed out, in addition to the two reds. Brazil were robbed of a perfectly good second goal when Bebeto saw a strike cancelled out for offside, and late in the game the hosts got a controversial equalizer when Brazil ‘keeper Taffarel had been adjudged to hold on to the ball for too long inside his own six yard area. Chile’s Aravena, the manager’s nephew, laid the ball down before any Brazilian truly realized what was going on, and he poked it sideways for substitute Basay to strike home.

The tie in Asunción on 27 Aug was also eventful, especially after the break. A total of six yellow cards were handed out, four of which came the visiting team’s way, in addition to a red for midfielder Álvarez, who had chopped Paraguay’s midfielder Nunes down on the halfway line. With the hosts dominant, Colombia had levelled the scores a few minutes from full time through top goalscorer Iguarán, but just past the 90 minutes, the visitors’ eccentric goalkeeper Higuita had come off his line and clattered into home skipper Delgado to concede a penalty. The Colombian players had failed to control their emotions as they knew they were staring at a possibly crucial defeat, and riot police had to come on to the pitch to deal with the shenanigans which followed. It took another five minutes before Paraguay’s equally controversial goalkeeper, Chilavert, could tuck away the penalty and send the crowd home delirious. 

Then, of course, there was also the highly vexed and not least decisive fixture between Brazil and Chile in Rio de Janeiro, where the visitors’ goalkeeper Rojas had, as it was found out later, cut himself in an attempt to make it look like he had been injured by a flare thrown on to the pitch by a member of the crowd. This was seen as an attempt to have FIFA award them the win, but their foul methods were ultimately found out, and instead, as the game had been abandoned with 20 minutes left for play, the home side had been awarded the tie (2-0). Brazil had utterly dominated proceedings before the ‘Rojas incident’, and had led after Careca’s early second half strike. 

In Group 1, Bolivia made good use of their altitude advantage, as they returned both Peru and Uruguay back home pointless. They had been good value for both wins, and had made use of some interesting formations, particularly the 3-6-1 variant against Uruguay. Under Argentinian Habegger, Bolivia had a strong midfield base through Soria, and not least a wily advanced playmaker in the hugely gifted Romero. When they even went on to win their third successive qualifier, 2-1 away in Peru, they were run-away group leaders thanks to the fact that Uruguay had yet to play either of their home ties. Ultimately, though, the major group favourites did what had been expected of them, as they won comprehensively in both those home matches, firstly 2-0 against Bolivia, who had seen two second half sendings-off, and never really threatened to hang on to the one point which would’ve seen them through to Italia ’90, and then against Peru, condemning the visitors to a fourth straight defeat, although Uruguay were given a scare as Hirano had rounded goalkeeper Pereira in the second half, and then rolling the ball wide of the upright with the net gaping in front of him. 

Traditionally, the South American continent has raised world class playmakers, and several teams had such a player in their ranks, the star of which so much had been expected. Not all had managed to deliever the goods in this qualification, though. Paraguay’s Romero had come into the qualification on the back of an injury which had kept him out of the Copa América tournament, and he never impressed, even featuring in goal for a few minutes after a Chilavert sending-off. Colombia’s Valderrama might have been part of the team which eventually won the group, but individually, the usually so bright playmaker failed to excel. In Group 1, the same could be said for Uruguay’s Francescoli, although he did at least get his name on the scoresheet when it mattered, as his goal against Bolivia saw to that they were firmly en route to a vital win. 

Uruguay’s Sosa scored in each the four matches, and ended on five goals, the same tally as Brazil’s Careca, who on the other hand had netted four of his five goal haul in the 6-0 home thrashing of Venezuela. Colombia’s leading scorer, 32 year old Iguarán, had given evidence of a majestic leap as he had scored with two fantastic headers in their opening group game win at home to Ecuador.

As for individual performances, it had appeared easier to obtain a big rating in Group 3, where both Brazilians and Chileans alike had proved efficient in respective routs of the continent’s weakest team Venezuela. Careca had got the simply outstanding 8,8 for his contribution in the home match (much thanks to his four goals), while diminutive Chile midfielder Vera had picked up no less than 8,5 for his masterclass performance in the home tie against the same opponent. Another individual performance which really had caught the eye, had been the second half showing from Colombia’s Fajardo. He had been introduced after the break as they needed to come back from a goal down to defeat visiting Paraguay, and the attacking midfielder had given an interpretation of the role like had been expected from the departing Valderrama. 8,6 had been his deserved score. 

Peru and Venezuela had finished the qualification pointless. While the Peruvians had looked tame early on in the qualification, they had not been as poor generally as Venezuela, who to their defence had come up against two very, very good teams. Peru had then looked much improved in their home fixture against Bolivia, despite eventually losing 2-1. They had subsequently parted with manager José Macia, and his assistant Percy Rojas had taken over for the journey to Montevideo, where they had not shamed themselves, perhaps aside from young midfielder Reynoso, who had got his marching orders on the half hour for lashing out at Bengoechea. 

With Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and possibly Colombia making the journey to Italia ’90, it could well be said that the continent looked equipped for a ‘favourites’ tag ahead of the tournament. Copa América winners Brazil and also the Uruguayans, who had given the Brazilians a run for the money in that tournament, were both exceptionally strong defensively, while they both had plenty of power coming forward, too. Argentina, fairly bleak in the Copa tournament, were less of a known quantity due to not having played in the World Cup qualification, but they still had Maradona, generally acknowledged as the world’s best footballer. If he could reproduce some of the magic which he had shown the world in the ’86 competition in Mexico, the Argentinians could once again prove to be a threat. Colombia were yet to qualify, but certainly had some exciting talents within their ranks. 

Post intercontinental play-offs

Colombia did indeed make it through to become CONMEBOL’s fourth representative at Italia ’90. They made hard work of a strong, resilient Israeli team, but thanks to substitute Usuriaga’s matchwinning goal in the first leg, played at home in Barranquilla, Maturana’s side could announce their arrival at a World Cup proper for the first time since 1962. They went on to hold the Middle East team to a goalless draw in the second leg in Tel Aviv. Despite a somewhat disappointing qualification campaign on an individual level, a high profile playmaker of theirs such as Carlos Valderrama would finally be able to display his talent to a global audience. The same applied to Luis Fajardo, perhaps an international star in the making? He’d clocked up a 7,62 average rating across his four matches, something which was second in the entire confederation, only behind Brazil’s Careca, who had, however, played one game less. 

Statistics

(including the intercontinental play-offs)

Total number of matches: 20
Total number of players used: 163
Total number of players including unused substitutes: 181
Ever-presents: 35
Leading goalscorer: Careca (Bra), Sosa (Uru) 5
Yellow/red cards: 64/9

Goalscorers (53)

5 goals
Careca (Bra), Sosa (Uru)

4 goals 
Iguarán (Col)

3 goals
Letelier (Chi)

2 goals
Aravena (Chi), Avilés (Ecu), Bebeto (Bra), Ferreira, J (Par)

1 goal
25 players

own goals: 3

Top 20 ratings list

1 Careca (Bra) 7,73 (3)
2 Fajardo (Col) 7,62 (4)
3 Baena (Ven) 7,56 (3)
4 Hernández (Col) 7,53 (3)
5 Branco (Bra) 7,43 (3)
6 Dunga (Bra) 7,37 (4)
7 Valdo (Bra) 7,35 (4)
8 Paulo Silas (Bra) 7,32 (4)
9 Ricardo Gomes (Bra) 7,27 (4)
10 Bebeto (Bra) and Iguarán (Col) 7,25 (4)
12 Pizarro (Chi) and Sosa (Uru) 7,22 (4)
14 Sánchez (Bol) 7,20 (3)
15 Escobar (Col) 7,15 (6), Aravena (Chi), Astengo (Chi), Gutiérrez (Uru) and Ramallo (Bol) 7,15 (4)
20 Jorginho (Bra) and Soria (Bol) 7,13 (3)

Stand-out individual performances: 
1 Careca (Bra) 8,8 vs Venezuela (h)
2 Fajardo (Col) 8,6 vs Paraguay (h)
3 Vera (Chi) 8,5 vs Venezuela (h)
4 Letelier (Chi) 8,1 vs Venezuela (h)
5 Silas (Bra) 8,0 vs Venezuela (h)
6 Dunga (Bra) 7,9 vs Venezuela  (a), Sosa (Uru) 7,9 vs Peru (h), Usuriaga (Col) 7,9 vs Paraguay (h)
9 Bebeto (Bra) 7,8 vs Venezuela (a)
10 Aravena (Chi) 7,7 vs Venezuela (a), Aravena (Chi) 7,7 vs Venezuela (h), Branco (Bra) 7,7 vs Venezuela (h), Delgado (Par) 7,7 vs Ecuador (h), Fajardo (Col) 7,7 vs Israel (h), Iguarán (Col) 7,7 vs Ecuador (h), Rojas (Chi) 7,7 vs Brazil (h)