Álvarez leaves La Roja singing the Blues

Defending FIFA World Cup winners Argentina extended their extraordinary record of having ended up on the losing side in only two of their previous 63 matches across all competitions – dating back to July 2019 – following a 3-0 victory over Chile at the Estadio Mâs Monumental.

Sitting atop CONMEBOL qualification after winning five of their opening six qualification matches, Argentina should have been celebrating within three minutes of being back on home soil in the country’s capital city. Leading the line alongside Lautaro Martínez in the absence of the injury-stricken Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez inexplicably somehow passed up the opportunity to get his name on the scoresheet as he fired his close-range effort the wrong side of the post with the back of the net at his mercy.

With a steady one-way stream of attacking traffic continuing towards Gabriel Arias as the game surpassed the quarter-hour mark, Rodrigo De Paul and Nicolás González forced Chile’s new number one – following the recent retirement of Claudio Bravo – into smart saves in the space of two quick-fire minutes to keep the game goalless. Despite their dominance, however, FIFA’s #1 ranked nation nearly returned to the dressing room behind on the brink of the HT, as La Roja defender Matías Catalán beat Emiliano Martínez with a power header from inside the area, but agonisingly not the far post.

However, it did not take Argentina long to break the deadlock following the restart – three minutes to be precise – as a fast-arriving Alexis Mac Allister slammed Álvarez’s precisely-timed pass beyond the grasp of Arias. Liverpool’s midfield maestro came close to doubling his own and his side’s tally in the 69th minute, but on this occasion, he witnessed his effort expertly grasped by the gloves of Arias.

Álvarez ultimately atoned for his miss in the first half with six minutes left in regular time, as a stunning strike from distance flew past Arias, before substitute Paulo Dybala added a late third to help Argentina to yet another victory in 2026 World Cup Qualification (WCQ), ahead of an encounter with 2024 Copa America finalists, Colombia on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Chile’s fourth defeat from seven WCQ matches sees La Roja needing to drastically up their game if they are to avoid missing out on a hat-trick of appearances at the pinnacle tournament that international football has to offer.