With goals from the Chilean Diego Valdes and from Peru Marcos Lopez at your own door, chilli took the pressure off themselves and secured a 2-0 win Peru in a match on the third day of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, played at the Monumental stadium in Santiago.
Although the Argentine team Eduardo Berizzo made merit to score in many ways in his offensive game, it was an equine shot launched by Alexis Sanchez helped unlock the match in the 74th minute, marking the Valdés attacker’s second goal for the Chilean team.
The finishing touch was made by Peruvian Marcos López with an own goal in the 90th minute + 1, with La Roja adding the first three points of the World Cup qualifiers of the United States, Canada and Mexico temporarily leaving Chile in fifth place with four points.
La Roja’s offensive volume did not translate into goals and in the second half, despite maintaining control of the game, they were unable to be sharper in Peru’s area, unlike in the first half. Before the goal there was only a header from Villarreal’s striker Brereton, who went wide, and a shot from Sánchez.
Juan Reynoso’s team, which had never won in the capital of Peru in the qualifying round, worked to get a point that was more profitable. It had more depth with the entry of André Carrillo, it created more danger in the Chilean area but failed to achieve.
This is the second defeat for the red and white team, which is ninth in the table with one point, only higher than Bolivia, which did not add any points. From the start, the Chilean team took the ball, trying to dominate against a populated Peruvian midfield that blocked the game and committed fouls to try to stop the danger of the locals.
La Roja came to prominence and could have been on the scoreboard in the first half itself, after producing as many as six dangerous plays moving forward on both sides with Paulo Díaz and Ben Brereton as the architects and with Diego Valdés serving up the goal ball The most obvious was the goal disallowed by Villarreal forward Brereton, in the 26th minute, as the ball crossed the baseline before Valdés made the pass in the middle of the area.
The Peruvian goal was also saved by a right-footed shot by the América Valdés attacker, in the 40th minute, after a cross pass from Brereton from the left corner of the area, with goalkeeper Pedro Gallese taking the crossbar with intense stretch.
Full-back Gabriel Suazo also attempted a header at Gallese’s right post that went just wide in the 35th minute. The game started with a low pass from Brereton, who crossed the crescent to Víctor Méndez who He waited on the left side of the big area to place the center.
Just a minute earlier, Rodrigo Echeverría would have missed a clear chance with a shot at the left post that went wide, after a pass from Díaz again from the edge of the big area. The defender who plays for Argentina’s Huracán had another chance with a shot in the six yard box that hit Gallese in the face.
The entry of Díaz, the Argentine River Plate defender, ten minutes into the game to replace right back Matías Catalán, who had discomfort in his right knee, meant an offensive boost on the right wing.
The Peruvian team could barely get their game together to get into Chile’s area. He had little chance on Brayan Cortés’ goal, with a mid-range shot from Luis Advíncula in the first 15 minutes of the contest. On the fourth day, scheduled for next Tuesday, Chile will visit Venezuela while Peru will host Argentina at home.
DATA SHEET
2 – Chile: Brian Cortes; Matías Catalán (m.13, Paulo Díaz), Gary Medel, Guillermo Maripán (m.46, Matías Fernández), Gabriel Suazo; Erick Pulgar, Rodrigo Echeverría, Víctor Méndez (m.80, Charles Aránguiz); Diego Valdés (m.89, Marcelino Núñez), Alexis Sánchez and Ben Brereton (m.79, Alexander Aravena)
Instructor: Eduardo Berizzo
0 – Peru: Peter Gallese; Aldo Corzo (m.79, Bryan Reyna), Carlos Zambrano (m.68, Anderson Santamaría), Luis Abram, Miguel Trauco (m.68, Wilder Cartagena); Luis Advíncula, Yoshimar Yotún, Pedro Aquino, Christofer Gonzáles (m.68, André Carillo), Andy Polo (m.46, Marcos López); Paolo Guerrero
Coach: Juan Reynoso
The objectives: 1-0, Diego Valdés (m. 74); 2-0, Marcos López, on pp (m. 91)
Referee: Colombian Wilmar Roldán advised Paolo Guerrero, Marcos López, Ben Brereton, Erick Pulgar
Incidents: The match on the third day of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup played at the Monumental stadium, in Santiago
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
