Chile lost World Cup ticket for the third consecutive time

Chile's slim hopes of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup officially ended after their defeat to Bolivia at the Estadio Municipal de El Alto.

Alexis Sanchez and his teammates are stuck at the bottom of the South American World Cup rankings with 10 points, 8 points behind the intercontinental play-off spot but with only 2 matches left to play.

This is the third consecutive time that "La Roja" has failed to participate in the biggest football festival on the planet, which is considered a disaster for the football team that defeated Argentina to win the Copa America twice in a row in 2015 and 2016.

Since the 2014 World Cup, where they reached the round of 16, Chile has lost the image of a major team in South America.

Sanchez and his teammates were disappointing.

Against Bolivia, coach Ricardo Gareca's team entered the match under great pressure after a series of unconvincing results. However, things quickly spiraled out of control.

The home team took the lead in the 6th minute through Miguelito, a striker in good form with 6 goals in the last 8 qualifying matches. His smart run and cool finish shook Brayan Cortes' goal, leaving the Chilean defence stunned.

Chile's hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed by a lack of attacking talent and defensive errors. Although Bolivia were reduced to a man from the 15th minute after Lucas Chavez was sent off, the visitors failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage, even going down to 10 men at the start of the second half when Francisco Sierralta was sent off for a dangerous tackle.

Throughout the rest of the match, Chile failed to make any significant breakthroughs. The appearance of Victor Davila brought some new energy, but the attack continued to lack sharpness and was stuck in the tight play of the home team.

In contrast, Bolivia played with discipline and effectively took advantage of the opportunity in injury time, when Enzo Monteiro sealed the score at 2-0 after a chaotic situation in the penalty area.