Peru are not one of the mostsuccessful teams in the South American section of the World Cup qualifiers and that is highlighted in the number of appearances made in the history of the tournament. Peru have been to the FIFA World Cup tournament on five occasions including the first edition in Uruguay. Peru were at the first FIFA World Cup tournament in Uruguay as oneof the 13 teams. Peru were in Group C alongside Romania and host nation Uruguay. They finished last at the end of proceedings in the group thereby exiting the tournament at the first round stage. Peru would go on to feature in two of the three FIFA World Cup tournaments in the 70s. They were at the 1970 edition in Mexico, and the 1978 edition in Argentina.
At the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Peru made a second World Cup appearance and it proved to be the best till date. The South American nation reached the quarterfinals as inspired by TeofiloCubillas, who’s regarded as the best player to ever come out of the country. Teofilo Cubillas was named the best young player at the tournament popularly called the Pele tournament. Peru were in Group D and they finished second behind West Germany and ahead of Bulgaria and Morocco. Eventual champions Brazil knocked out Peru at the quarterfinal stage via a 4-2 win. Peru made their next World Cup appearance at the 1978 edition. Peru were in Group D alongside Scotland, Iran and the Netherlands. Peru were the Group D winners ahead of the Netherlands, Scotland and Iran. Peru qualified for the second round as Group D winners and they were in the second group with hosts Argentina, Brazil and Poland. Peru finished at the bottom of the group. Peru attended two more editions, the 1982 edition in Spain and the 2018 edition in Russia but didn’t make it pass the group stage in the two editions.