Colombia vs Chile

Estadio El Campín plays host to a high-stake 2022 World Cup qualifying showdown between Colombia and Chile.

Pursuing a third consecutive World Cup finals appearance, Colombia go into this showdown sitting in the sole inter-confederation play-off berth despite drawing their last three World Cup qualifying matches. However, the Colombians can ill-afford another lackluster result, as they harbor a slender two-point lead over closest followers Paraguay and Peru. That could be easier said than done, considering Colombia’s disastrous seven-game winless H2H run (D5, L2), which includes Copa America quarter-final eliminations in 2016 and 2019. What’s more, before being held to a 2-2 draw in their most recent meeting with Chile in October 2020, Reinaldo Rueda’s side had drawn a blank in four straight H2Hs. Yet, we could be in for a goal-friendly fixture here, with each of Los Cafeteros’ three 2022 World Cup qualifying home matches featuring over 2.5 overall goals (W1, D1, L1).

Meanwhile, Chile’s hopes of returning to the World Cup finals after missing out on ‘Russia 2018’ are hanging in the balance as they’ve secured just one win in eight qualifying matches (D4, L3), courtesy of a 2-0 home victory over Peru in November 2020. Winless in five World Cup qualifying outings in a row (D3, L2) and scoreless in the last two, the Chileans trail Colombia by three points ahead of the kick-off. So it comes as no surprise that Martin Lasarte’s job is up in the air, with the under-fire manager lamenting the worst 20% win ratio of any Chile national team head coach to have spent at least five games in the dugout since Juan Carlos Bertone in 1920-22! Moreover, except for a pair of wins against Bolivia, ‘La Roja’ have won none of their remaining eight internationals in 2021 (D5, L3).