Chile at the World Cup
Chile were one of the 13 teams in the inaugural World Cup in 1930. Their best result has been 3rd position in 1962, as the host nation. In 2014 they did not make it past the group stage, and have not qualified for the tournament since.
Trivia
- Did you know that Chile was disallowed from participating in the 1994 qualifying competition? It all came about because a Chilean goalkeeper faked his injury in a qualifying match. In a decisive qualifier in Brazil on 3 September 1989, Brazil were leading 1-0 with 23 minutes left. In an attempt to disqualify the match, the Chilean goalkeeper Roberto Rojas pretended to have been hit and seriously hurt by the firecrackers thrown from the Brazilian crowd. The whole Chilean team walked off in protest, and the match was abandoned. FIFA later discovered the hoax from TV and awarded Brazil a 2-0 victory, banned Rojas for life and banned Chile from the 1994 World Cup.
- When Chilean player Eladio Rojas scored a goal in the 1962 quarter-final against Russia, the first person he hugged was the Russian goalkeeper. Rojas was so excited because the goalkeeper he had beaten was the 'unbeatable' Lev Yashin.
- The red and yellow card system was first used in the 1970 finals, though no players were sent-off in that finals. The first red card was given to Carlos Caszely of Chile on 14 June 1974.
- The USSR refused to play the second-leg play-off qualifying match in Chile in 1973, as earlier in the year thousands of supporters of the Marxist Chilean President Allende were killed in the National Stadium in Santiago. The match was 'played' without any Soviet players present. The Chilean players kicked off the game and scored into the Soviet net. Then the game was abandoned and awarded to Chile. Chile subsequently qualified for the 1974 finals.
Related Pages
- Chile at the Women's World Cup
- List of all countries who have participated in the World Cup
- FIFA World Cup Home
- About Sport in Chile
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