Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
The heavyweights of Group A go face-to-face for the fifth consecutive Copa America tournament as Chile must get a result against Argentina.
This is a very familiar matchup for both sides as their 90 games played is the most common fixture in the history of the Chile national team and the third most played for Argentina.
The World champions have dominated the head-to-head meetings over 90 minutes, but Chile will always have fond memories of penalty shootout victories in consecutive Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016.
Their most recent meeting however ended 2-1 to Argentina in a 2022 World Cup qualifier.
The Chileans have some unhealed wounds from 2022 as they missed out on the World Cup, so 2023 began with three wins and a draw from four friendly matches to prepare them for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The campaign began in September with a defeat against Uruguay and a tie with Colombia but they grabbed their only win so far in the home game against Peru.
A shambolic calendar year ended with defeats to Venezuela and Ecuador while they went scoreless against Paraguay. Chile appointed Ricardo Gareca as manager in January 2024 and he got off to a good start with a 3-0 victory over Albania before they came up short against France, losing 3-2 in another friendly.
La Roja clinched the Copa America trophy in consecutive editions in 2015 and 2016 and Chile will be hoping to make a splash on their return to international competition. It is pertinent that they do well this summer and avoiding defeat against the best national team in the world would provide a huge psychological boost.
Argentina have won the last two international tournaments and they are poised to make it a hat-trick in the United States of America but would have to overcome some tough challenges.
Lionel Scaloni‘s men won 11 of their last 12 matches since lifting the World Cup and that run began with Thiago Almada and Lionel Messi's late goals deciding a friendly against Panama. The following game against Curacao ended 7-0 in favour of the world champions who closed out the March 2023 international break with very much a party atmosphere.
June brought a pair of 2-0 friendly victories against Australia and Indonesia while they continued the winning run against Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru. Goals from Ronald Araujo and Darwin Nunez dealt Argentina a 2-nil defeat against Uruguay at La Bombonera.
The White and Sky Blues had to bounce back immediately which they did five days later with a 1-0 victory over Brazil at the Maracana that kept them top of their World Cup qualifying group.
2024 began with a comprehensive 3-0 win over El Salvador in March and Scaloni's men also hit Costa Rica 3-1 in Los Angeles.
Argentina have the confidence and depth of quality within their ranks to overcome any obstacles that come their way in international tournaments. The 2024 Copa America is seemingly theirs to lose and they are on the verge of history should they clinch another title here.
Key to achieving that dream is getting a win against Chile that could all but secure a place in the knockout stage of the competition. They can thus call on a fantastic side and put their knowledge of beating Chile to good use once again.
This Copa America matchday 2 fixture takes place on Wednesday, 26 June 2024 with kick-off scheduled for 2 AM UK time. Match tickets are available for sale on the websites of both national federations as well as the tournament organizers so you can hurry to purchase yours.
The MetLife Stadium is set to be packed for this occasion and both sets of fans would be desperate to not miss the action. Over 80,000 copies of match tickets would be going on sale as two popular teams on the South American continent are going head-to-head, the scramble for tickets might become difficult at some point.
We urge those still looking to find Chile vs Argentina tickets they make their purchase on a ticket resale site.
Chile's Ben Brereton Diaz was initially omitted from Gareca's first squad due to his limited proficiency in Spanish but he eventually made two appearances off the bench in March. The forward likely improves his command of the language before the summer and he could yet play a part for La Roja given his qualities.
Argentina captain and marksman, Lionel Messi, missed the friendly games in March due to a hamstring injury and he joins Paulo Dybala, Exequiel Palacios and Marcos Senesi on the injured list at the time of writing.
Eduardo Vargas is a versatile option upfront for Chile either as an attacking midfielder or central striker. The Atletico Mineiro man opened the scoring against Albania in their international friendly and he could play a crucial role in another Copa America for his nation.
Chile: Bravo; Isla, Diaz, Sierralta, Suazo; Nunez, Pavez; Osorio, Vargas, Brereton Diaz, Sanchez
Competition for spots in the Argentina attack is fierce with Lautaro Martinez topping the Serie A scoring charts this season with 23 goals in 26 league games already. The 26-year-old should earn a starting place alongside Messi, but Julian Alvarez might have something to say about that.
Argentina: Martínez; Acuna, Romero, Otamendi, Molina; De Paul, Celso, Mac Allister, Fernandez; Messi, Alvarez
Given this is a group-stage fixture, Chile are unlikely to be wearing their giant-killing cape this time against Argentina. Everyone expects La Albiceleste to extend their run to three consecutive unbeaten group games against Chile.
The Chileans are yet a tough side to play against and they would also be fighting for a spot in the second round potentially alongside Argentina. They must show why they deserve to be there and pressure their opponents with intensity and vigour.
This is set to be a South American classic with lots of talking points.
Chile 1-3 Argentina
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