South America. Three qualification groups here, but only two group winner qualified directly to the finals – the winner of Group 9 went to playoff against the winner of Oceania for a spot at the finals.
Group 8
1.URUGUAY 4 3 0 1 7- 2 6
Group favourtites, but lucky to win the group and only on better goal-difference. Sure, in terms of quality of the World Cup finals Uruguay was the best option, having world-class stars, but not everybody – especially in Europe – was happy: the brutal way of playing at the 1986 World Cup was well remembered and Uruguay was feared to taint ‘the reputation’ of the finals ones again.
2.Bolivia 4 3 0 1 6- 5 6
Surprisingly strong performance and one could be sorry the underdogs did not win the group. To a point, the schedule benefited their opponents: Uruguay had the last 2 games of the group at home, the first hosting Bolivia. It was highly unlikely the Bolivians could win in Montevideo, the only outcome which guaranteed them qualification. At the end, Bolivia came very close to going to Italy, but was denied on goal-difference.
3.Peru 4 0 0 4 2- 8 0
I sharp decline, Peru lost all games.
Group 9. As luck had it, ‘lesser’ teams played in it and the winner had to play against the winner of Oceania for the spot in Italy.
1.Colombia 4 2 1 1 5- 3 5
Up and coming Colombia clinched top position.
2.Paraguay 4 2 0 2 6- 7 4
A gritty team can win, but more often loses. Not by much, but loses.
3.Ecuador 4 1 1 2 4- 5 3
Ecuador was the outsider and finished last, but managed to drag down Paraguay.
Colombia faced Israel, the winner of Oceania, next. Won minimally in Bogota – 1-0 – but managed to keep scoreless draw in Ramat Gan two weeks later and thus reached the finals. Drug money aside, it was a team deserving the play at the World Cup finals – at least because of wonderful Valderrama.
Group 10. Whether or not this group was decided outside the field is debatable, but the scandal is well remembered at least in Chile. It happened in Rio de Janeiro, in the last and decisive group match. Brazil and Chile had equal points Brazil was leading 1-0.
A flare from stands apparently hit the Chilean goalkeeper Rojas. He dropped dead at one. Eventually, the match was abandoned and the case had to be ruled by FIFA. Investigation concluded that Rojas faked having been hit and injured. FIFA awarded the game to Brazil, but Chillean feel wronged even today. In any case, Brazil reached the finals not on the field.
1.BRAZIL 4 3 1 0 13- 1 7
Brazil came close to miss World Cup finals for the first time. Would have been enormous failure not only hardly anyone imagine finals without Brazil, but mostly because the newly build national team had huge potential. Yet, they managed to qualify. The picture is something like B-team of the country, from friendly played in June against Denmark in Copenhagen and lost 0-4. It mostly shows what Brazil had at the time, for a good number pf players here were stars, yet, without real chance to be starters for Brazil. Standing from left: ’Bernardo’ da Silva, ’Paulo Roberto’ Curtis Costa, ‘Ricardo’ Raimundo Gomes, Cláudio Ibrahim Vaz Leal ‘Branco’, André Alves da Cruz, ‘Acácio’ Cordeiro Barreto. Bottom, left to right: ’Valdo’ Cândido Filho, ‘Geovani’ Silva, Gerson II, ‘Cristovão’ Borges dos Santos,’Bismarck’ Barreto Faria
2.Chile 4 2 1 1 9- 4 5
Chile really challenged mighty Brazil, but… the unfortunate incident in the crucial last group game taints the outcome with myth: Chileans feel they were wronged by FIFA, ruling in favour of Brazil. In reality, Chile had no chance to prevail over their mighty opponent: they were losing 0-1 when the match was abandoned and if played to the end, it was highly unlikely Chile could equalize, let alone win in Rio de Janeiro. Good effort, but scandalous finish.
3.Venezuela 4 0 0 4 1-18 0
Outsiders as ever, losing all games and scoring only one goal.