Time's up! Argentina won 3-0 against Chile, raising their score in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America to 18 and securing the top spot after the 7th match.
In the next round, Argentina will visit Colombia, Chile will play at home against Bolivia.
The second half has 5 minutes of extra time.
Minute 90+1: Goal! Paulo Dybala, 12 minutes into the game, scored Argentina's third goal with a cross-angle shot. The Chilean defender's tricky kick caused goalkeeper Arias to miss momentum.
Minute 84: Goal! Alvarez increased the score to 2-0. Chile lost the ball in front of the penalty area, the ball was pushed to Alvarez, a rookie of Atletico Madrid who fired a beautiful long-range shot, scoring the second goal for Argentina. Alvarez ended a 9-match goal streak.
Minute 80: Despite personnel changes and having to attack, until 10 minutes before the official match time ended, Chile still only had 1 more shot in the second half. It's easy to understand why they only control the ball 34%.
Minute 70: Chile offers their formation to put pressure, making them more vulnerable to counter-attacks. Argentina slowed down but still had enough to have a chance.
Minute 60: Chile has adjusted personnel for the attack, Carlos Palacios replaced Victor Davila, Williams Cepeda replaced Marcelino Nunez. Both players left the field and received yellow cards in the first half.
Minute 48: Goal! Unable to score in the first 45 minutes, Argentina found the net very early after the break. From Alvarez's cross, Martinez took a smart step for Alexis McAllister to finish to open the scoring.
08: The second half begins.
End of the first half. Argentina drew 0-0 with Chile in the first 45 minutes. There were no goals but 12 fouls and 3 yellow cards were drawn.
Minute 45+1: No goal! Matias Catalan appeared in the Argentina penalty area, received a cross and headed the ball, unfortunately hitting the post.
The first half has 3 minutes of extra time.
Minute 40: Another fierce dispute with 2 consecutive yellow cards for 2 Chilean players. Players from both sides continuously put pressure on the referee.
Minute 30: De Paul made a mistake and reacted later to the opposing player, causing him to receive a yellow card.
Minute 20: Lautaro Martinez coordinated with De Paul and passed the ball to the midfielder of Atletico Madrid club to finish, but the ball hit the Chile goalkeeper's position.
In the following free kick, Nicolas Otamendi headed the ball close to the goal but still could not overcome Gabriel Arias.
Minute 10: Argentina had a good attack, Rodrigo de Paul finished the technique from the penalty area but the Chile defender headed the ball to block it.
Right in the corner kick that followed, Julian Alvarez shot quickly but the ball went over the crossbar.
Minute 5: Argentina controlled the ball well in the first minutes - 92%. There were fierce disputes that caused the match to heat up.
07:00: The match begins.
Pre-match information
The 2026 World Cup qualifiers have returned to South America after Copa America's summer. Argentina - world and Copa America champions, will aim to maintain their No. 1 position in the rankings.
At the moment, La Albiceleste have 15 points in 6 matches, 2 points more than Urguay. In the most recent match in the qualifying round, Argentina beat Brazil in November last year.
That match started Argentina's run of 11 consecutive wins since losing to Uruguay. Of course, Lionel Messi has played in most of those matches, but when he returns to the next qualifying round against Chile, the 37-year-old captain will not be able to play due to injury.
Argentina also no longer has Angel di Maria when he retired from his international career after Copa America, but the home team is still rated higher than Chile, the team is also in a difficult period.
They have only won 1 match in this qualifying round, temporarily ranked 8th on the rankings with 5 points.
Only 6 teams have qualified directly for the 2026 World Cup and the 7th-placed team will play in the play-off. The opportunity is not over yet, but coach Ricardo Gareca's team will have to find a way to return as quickly as possible.
But how to get back when their away form in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers is very poor - losing 1-3 to Uruguay, 0-3 to Venezuela and 0-1 to Ecuador.
Last June, Chile lost 0-1 to Argentina in the Copa America group stage.
