Peru reached the next World Cup finals in Spain 1982, although the team was eliminated in the first round after 2 draws and 1 loss.
As one of the 13 national sides that accepted the invitation to the inaugural World Cup, Peru was placed in Group 3 with Romania and hosts Uruguay.
[1] With a mere 300 spectators, Peru's match against Romania holds the record of lowest attendance in a World Cup game.
[1] The Peruvian squad next qualified for the Mexico 1970 World Cup, where they were placed in Group 4 with West Germany, Bulgaria, and Morocco.
However, as Brian Glanville stated, "the elusive dribbling of Cubillas, the powerful breaks from the back four of Héctor Chumpitaz, the running of [Hugo] Sotil and [Alberto] Gallardo, turned the tide."
[9] With a midfield identified "as the best in the world" by Argentine sports magazine El Gráfico,[10] Peru advanced to the second round as group leaders after defeating Scotland (3–1), drawing with the Netherlands (0–0), and beating Iran (4–1).
Against Italy, Peru "put on a mix of solid defending and spectacular attacking" that resulted in a draw (1–1) against the eventual champions.
[21] It was the first time Peru had played these three nations at a World Cup, but they were eliminated in the group stage after finishing third with three points.
Match referee Sergio Chechelev annulled a valid goal from Peru without any justification, allowing Bolivia to win 2–1.
In a rematch seven days later in Buenos Aires, Peru led 2–1 but Ricardo Gareca inspired his team to a 2–2 draw sending Argentina into the World Cup finals which they would win.
Particularly low points of the qualifying tournament included a 3–0 loss at Venezuela and defeats in over half of their home matches to Uruguay, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia and Brazil.
Peru this time hit the ground hard as conflicts with the team's management soon showed poor results in the games that were to follow.
Paulo Autuori managed the squad, but was not able to achieve popularity due to a disastrous campaign that led Peru into 8th place just above Bolivia and Venezuela.
Also a scandal shook the team as it was discovered, with informational support of prominent figures such as Jaime Bayly, that several of the players had been partying during the time they were supposedly "concentrating" for a match against Brazil.
The 2008 calendar year resulted with three losses, including a 6–0 defeat against Uruguay, two draws against Argentina and Colombia, and only one game won against Venezuela.
[30] They went on to face New Zealand in an inter-continental play-off, winning 2–0 on aggregate,[31] courtesy of goals from Farfán and Christian Ramos, to become the last team to qualify for Russia.