History of the Chile national football team
The history of the Chilean national football team dates back to the team's formation and its first ever international match in 1910.
Early years
The
Chile was one of the four founding member nations of CONMEBOL. Together with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, the four competed in the first South American Championship, later to be renamed the Copa América, in 1916. On October 12, 1926, Chile made the first corner-kick goal in Copa América history in a match against Bolivia.
1930 World Cup
At the first ever FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay in 1930, Chile was among the thirteen nations invited to participate in the tournament.
The manager of Chile was the young Hungarian György Orth. Chile was part of Group 1, with Argentina, Mexico, and France. Chile won their first two games, defeating Mexico 3–0 on 16 July, then France 1–0 on 19 July. Sharing the same number of points, Chile and Argentina played a decisive game, on 22 July at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, which ended 3–1 in Argentina's favor, and thus Chile failed to qualify for the second round.
1950 World Cup
The 1950 edition of the FIFA World Cup was held in Brazil. The Chilean manager at the tournament was Alberto Bucciardi, while the team captain was goal keeper Sergio Livingstone. "La Roja" were in group 2 and Chile lost their first two games against Spain and England, both with a score of 2–0. The last match was played against the United States, which Chile won by a score of 5–2, but it was not enough for Chile to advance to the next round.
1962 World Cup
The
They won their first match, against Switzerland, by 3–1. The second match against Italy, which they won 2–0, became known as the Battle of Santiago. Although only two players were sent off by the English referee Ken Aston, the match saw repeated, deliberate attempts from players on both sides to harm opponents, and the teams needed police protection to leave the field in safety.
Chile defeated European champions
The team is said to have eaten Swiss cheese before beating Switzerland, spaghetti before beating Italy, and drank vodka before beating the USSR. They also drank coffee before the match against Brazil, although they did not win that match. This was Chile's best performance in a World Cup.[4]
1966 World Cup
England was the stage for the eighth World Cup. It was also the first European World Cup that Chile took part in. Qualification for the 1966 edition ended with a play-off between
Chile was unable to repeat the same success found in the previous World Cup of 1962. Facing the Soviet Union, Italy, and North Korea, Chile was only able to gain 1 point, with a 1–1 draw against North Korea. Chile scored two goals in the 1966 World Cup, both coming from Ruben Marcos.
1974 World Cup
Chile qualified for the
At the tournament itself, Chile lost their opening game 1–0 to
Guided by coach
1982 World Cup
At the
Chile were then beaten 4–1 in Gijón by
Disqualification and banishment from the 1990 and 1994 World Cups
The "Roberto Rojas scandal", known in Chile as "
However, video footage of the match showed that the firework had not made contact with Rojas. FIFA awarded the win to Brazil on a forfeit, Chile was banned from the qualifiers for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and Rojas was banned for life,[9] although an amnesty was granted in 2001.
1998 World Cup
Chile qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup having been banned from entering the 1994 tournament. They were drawn in Group B, along with Italy, Cameroon and Austria. With much expected of their strike partnership of Marcelo Salas and Iván Zamorano, Chile drew with Italy in Bordeaux in their opening match, 2–2, with Salas scoring both goals in reply to Christian Vieri's opener,[10] before Roberto Baggio's late penalty equalizer for Italy.
Chile drew their next two matches 1–1. The first was against Austria in
Against Cameroon in
Italy had been the only team to win in the group, so Chile's unbeaten record took them into the Round of 16 despite not winning a single match in the group phase. In the Round of 16, they played against South American rivals
2010 World Cup
On 10 October 2009, Chile qualified for the
2014 World Cup
On October 7, 2011, Chile started their journey to qualify for the
Chile's first game was against Australia on 14 June, which they won 3–1. Their second match was against defending champions Spain. Chile won the match 2–0 to ensure qualification to the knockout stage while eliminating the Spanish from the tournament. Chile's final group game was against the Netherlands to determine who topped the group; Chile lost 2–0 and finished Group B in second.
In the Round of 16, Chile faced Group A winners and tournament hosts Brazil, just as they had four years ago. The match was tied 1–1 after 90 minutes and no further goals were scored in extra time, although Chile struck the woodwork in the dying moments. In the ensuing penalty shoot-out, the Chilean players missed three penalties and fell 2–3 to Brazil, thus being eliminated from the tournament.
2015 Copa América
Chile were selected to host the 2015 Copa América. In the opening match, they defeated Ecuador 2–0. In their second match, they drew 3–3 against Mexico, with two goals from Vidal, and one from Vargas. They finished the group stage in first place with 7 points after thumping Bolivia 5–0.
Chile went on to defeat Uruguay 1–0 in the quarter-finals and later beat Peru 2–1 in the semi-finals. In the final, they faced Argentina. Chile won the tournament for the first time, defeating Argentina on penalties 4–1 following a 0–0 draw after 120 minutes. Thus, they qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
2019 Copa América
Chile were in Group C with Uruguay, Ecuador and Japan. They finished second in the group with 6 points and defeated Colombia in the quarter-finals after a penalty shootout. They lost 3–0 to rivals Peru in the semi-finals, and finished the tournament in fourth after defeat to Argentina in the third place match.
References
- ^ IFFHS, ed. (2010). "Chile: Full "A" internationals (1910)". IFFHS. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
- ^ Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey (7 March 2006). Historic Earthquakes – Chile – 1960 22 May 19:11:14 UTC – Magnitude 9.5: The Largest Earthquake in the World. Retrieved on 2007-01-09
- ^ Ashdown, John (29 June 2006). "World Cup Knowledge: part four". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
- ^ Fifa.com, 1982 FIFA World Cup Spain: Chile – Austria
- ^ Fifa.com, 1982 FIFA World Cup Spain: Germany FR – Chile
- ^ Fifa.com, 1982 FIFA World Cup Spain: Algeria – Chile
- ^ "Rosenery Mello do Nascimento, a "Fogueteira do Maracanã", tem morte cerebral por aneurisma no Rio aos 45 anos". Cabeça de Cuia (in Portuguese). 2011-06-06. Archived from the original on 2011-09-11. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
- ^ Goal.com – Editorial/Comment – Own Goal: Faking Being Hit By Objects Archived 2007-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ FIFA.com
- ^ FIFA.com
- ^ FIFA.com Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ FIFA.com
- ^ "Chileans book finals place". ESPN. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
- ^ "2010 World Cup Qualifying – CONMEBOL Qualifying Stage Results". ESPN. 2009-10-15. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
- ^ "Chile delivers the goods in their World Cup debut". The Pulse. 2010-06-16. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
- ^ "Chile Beats Switzerland, Portugal Crushes North Korea at World Cup". Archived from the original on 2010-06-26. Retrieved 2010-06-21.