1939 South American Championship
Football tournament
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The 1939 South American Championship (Spanish: Campeonato Sudamericano 1939) was the 15th international association football championship for members of the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL). Hosted by Peru, the competition ran from 15 January – 12 February 1939 and was contested by the national teams of Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Peru |
| Dates | 15 January – 12 February 1939 |
| Teams | 5 |
| Venue(s) | Estadio Nacional, Lima |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Peru (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Uruguay |
| Third place |  Paraguay |
| Fourth place |  Chile |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 10 |
| Goals scored | 47 (4.7 per match) |
| Top scorer | Teodoro Fernández (7 goals) |
| Best player | Teodoro Fernández |
← 1937 1941 → | |
Hosts Peru won the title for the first time after defeating Uruguay 2–1 in the final and decisive match of the round-robin tournament.
Background
In 1910, the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) organised a tournament to mark the 100th anniversary of the May Revolution. The Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo was contested by the national teams of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay and is considered to be a precursor to the South American Championship.[1] Six years later, the AFA organised a second tournament, this time to celebrate the centenary of the Argentine Declaration of Independence. Alongside the three who had contested the Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo, Brazil were invited to compete and the South American Championship was born.[2] During the competition, the four associations of the competing teams met on 9 July 1916 and founded the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL).[3]
Argentina were the defending champions having won the 1937 edition after defeating Brazil 2–1 in the championship play-off.[4] Uruguay were the most successful team in the history of the competition having won the trophy on seven occasions.[5]
Three teams – Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil – withdrew prior to the start of the competition so only five of the eight CONMEBOL members would compete. As a result, Argentina would be unable to defend their title.[6]
Format
Squads
Venue
All matches were held at the Estadio Nacional in Lima.[6]
| Lima | |
|---|---|
| Estadio Nacional | |
| Capacity: 40,000 | |
 | |
Summary
The competition began on 15 January when Paraguay defeated Chile 5–1 and Peru won 5–2 against Ecuador. A week later, a hat-trick from Severino Varela helped Uruguay to a 6–0 win against Ecuador and Peru defeated Chile 3-1. On 29 January, Uruguay came from behind to defeat Chile 3–2 and Peru defeated Paraguay 3–0. With just four matches left to play, Peru were at the top of the table with six points from six, two ahead of Uruguay who had played a game less.[6]
A week later, Chile defeated Ecuador 4–1 and Uruguay defeated Paraguay 3–1 to leave them tied on points with Peru and the two teams were scheduled to meet in the final match. The last two matches took place on 12 February when Paraguay defeated Ecuador 3–1 and goals from Jorge Alcalde and Víctor Bielich helped Peru to a 2–1 win against Uruguay as they won the competition for the first time.[6]
Table
Results
| Peru | 5–2 |  Ecuador |
|---|---|---|
|
[6] | Alcívar  55', 89' |
| Peru | 3–1 | Chile |
|---|---|---|
|
[6] | Domínguez 55' |
| Peru | 3–0 | Paraguay |
|---|---|---|
|
[6] |
Goalscorers
There were 47 goals scored in 10 matches, for an average of 4.7 goals per match.
7 goals
5 goals
3 goals
Tiberio Godoy- Marcial Barrios
Pedro Lago- Roberto Porta
2 goals
José Avendaño- Enrique Sorrel
Marino Alcívar- Manuel Arenas
1 goal
- Alfonso Domínguez
- Roberto Luco
- Raúl Muñoz
- Raúl Toro
- Ricardo Aquino
- Eustaquio Barreiro
- Eduardo Mingo
Víctor Bielich- Adelaido Camaití
- Oscar Chirimini
