Ten teams competed in a first round-robin competition, with Brazil defending the title.

[1] Uruguay, coached by Oscar Tabárez, won their first Pan American title after beating Brazil 1–0 in the final.

[2] Originally, the tournament was to have been played by 12 teams organised into four groups of three teams, but Honduras and Suriname withdrew, forcing a rearrangement of the original draw (shown below).

Group B winner (Brazil) received a bye to the final.

3 goals 2 goals 1 goal Source: PanamSports Mario Bernio, Jorge Ceballos, Héctor Cejas, Duilio Dagametti, Esteban Del Río, Gustavo Dezotti, Juan Gilberto Funes, Rodolfo Garnica, Eugenio Gentile, Francisco Guillén (GK), Humberto Gutiérrez, Ariel Moreno, Juan José Oficialdegui, Oscar Olivera, Norberto Ortega Sánchez, Carlos Prono (GK), Esteban Solaberrieta, Jorge Theiler.