Bolivia sinks Gareca’s Chile

Bolivia lost this Tuesday 1-2 chilli away and dealt a major blow to their World Cup aspirations, which paid off on their own, after the eighth qualifying round against World Cup 2026. In the first half of the match played at the National Stadium in Santiago, La Verde won with a goal from Carmelo Algarañaz while Eduardo Vargas equalized and Miguel Terceros scored the winning goal for Bolivia.

Success as a guest in the World Cup qualifiers, which the highlanders did not achieve 31 years ago, put Oscar Villegas’ team in seventh position in the classification table with nine points, the last place that gives access to play-offs. , while Chile remains penultimate with five. Bolivia took six points from the doubleheader, after beating Venezuela 4-0 at home on Thursday, and Chile had none after losing to Argentina 3-0.

The National Stadium, which was not filled due to a FIFA sanction that reduced capacity, had silent and frustrated Chilean fans, who eventually broke into song in an attempt to promote a tie. Bolivia struck the first blow, on 13 minutes, with a goal from forward Carmelo Algarañaz, who took advantage of a ball in the middle served by Roberto Carlos Fernández.

Ricardo Gareca’s side struggled to break free and although they sped up their search for a goal, they came up short, beyond a mid-distance shot from center Matías Catalán over the crossbar. It was 23 years since Bolivia started a game by beating La Roja in Chile, such was the magnitude of the earthquake they experienced in the first half that caused Gareca to adjust his approach.

The Argentine coach replaced striker Ben Brereton 35 minutes into the match to bring Vicente Pizarro into midfield, a decision that former Barça player Arturo Vidal, will now heavily criticize in Colo Colo. Goalkeeper Lampe’s misfortune allowed Chile to equalize with a goal from striker Eduardo Vargas who, with an empty goal, ended up walking the ball into the goal to end La Roja’s drought in seven official games without scoring.

Bolivia’s goalkeeper was injured outside the area while trying to shut down Chile’s attack and left his goal unguarded The goal action distracted the Bolivians and there was a confrontation that ended in yellow cards for Erick Pulgar and Marcelo Suárez. Lampe left on a stretcher unable to walk straight during a check-up at a clinic in the Chilean capital and had to be replaced by Guillermo Vizcarra.

When the match resumed, the answer was La Verde’s second goal scored by Miguel Terceros, with a pass again from Fernández, after an error by the local defense at the end of the first half. Chile came out in the second half in greater demand and looked to tie with options from Vargas, Osorio, Pulgar, Díaz, and Palacios, but again the goal was shut out, even with a penalty called by referee Juan Benítez and disallowed. -effective in VAR.

The tie’s next double matchday is in October, when Chile face Brazil at home and then visit Colombia, while Bolivia host the Colombians and then travel away against Argentina.

TECHNICAL SHEET

1 – Chile: Gabriel Arias Mauricio Isla, Matías Catalán, Paulo Díaz, Gabriel Suazo; Erick Pulgar, Víctor Dávila (m.60, Jean Meneses), Darío Osorio (m.61, Gonzalo Tapia), Carlos Palacios; Eduardo Vargas, Ben Brereton (m.35, Vicente Pizarro).
Coach: Ricardo Gareca.
2 – Bolivia: Carlos Lampe (m.45+1, Guillermo Vizcarra); Diego Medina, Luis Haquin, Marcelo Suárez, José Sagredo; Roberto Carlos Fernández; Robson Matheus (m.93: Víctor Cuéllar), Ervin Vaca, Miguel Terceros (m.68, Yomar Rocha), Gabriel Villamil; Carmelo Algarañaz.
Coach: Oscar Villegas.
Objectives: 0-1, Carmelo Algarañaz (m. 13); 1-1, Eduardo Vargas (d. 39); 2-1, Miguel Terceros (m. 45+1)
Referee: Paraguayan Juan Gabriel Benítez advised Paulo Díaz, Erick Pulgar, Matías Catalán and Gabriel Suazo for the locals and Robson Matheus, Marcelo Suárez and Roberto Carlos Fernández for the visit.
Incidents: The match on the eighth day of the South American qualifier for the 2026 World Cup was played at the National Stadium in Santiago, which was not full for the match.