Mini football figure - Chili

Chili

The Chilean national football team is one of the most successful national football teams in South America. Chile is the third South American country after Argentina and Uruguay to play international matches. La Roja" (The Red) played its first match on 27 May 1910 in Buenos Aires against an Argentinian selection team, which it lost 3-1. The next international match followed two days later at the same venue as part of the Campeonato Sudamericano held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Argentina's May Revolution of 1810 and ended in a 3-0 defeat to the Uruguayan national football team. 

In 1916, the team participated in the first Campeonato Sudamericano under the aegis of CONMEBOL, in which four teams took part, but finished last with only a single point. Chile finished second in 1955, 1956, 1979 and 1987. It was not until the Copa América 2015 that the first major title was celebrated. They also won the title at the Copa América Centenario 2016, which was held to celebrate the centenary. In both cases, they won the final against Argentina on penalties. In 1928, the country took part in the Olympic football tournament for the first and only time. Chile was also one of the participants in the first World Cup in 1930, losing only to eventual finalists Argentina.

In 1962, Chile hosted the seventh World Cup and finished third, its best result to date. After that, the maximum they reached was the round of 16. As 2015 South American champions, Chile also took part in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, where they lost to world champions Germany in the final.

In the FIFA World Rankings in November 2015, the team rose from 9th to 5th place, which was the best ranking since the world rankings were introduced. In April 2016, Chile even managed to rise briefly to fourth in the world rankings with a 4-1 win over Venezuela in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. However, Chile's failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup saw them fall out of the top-10 again, and they are currently ranked 23rd in the world (as of September 2021).