Argentina beats Chile, pays tribute to Di Maria

Buenos Aires. Argentina did not miss the historic Lionel Messi and Ángel Di María and beat Chile 3-0 in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Alexis Mac Allister, Julián Álvarez and Paulo Dybala scored the goals on Thursday at Buenos Aires’ Monumental stadium, which was under reduced capacity due to a CONMEBOL sanction for racist chants during the Albiceleste’s last home game.

At the Monumental in Buenos Aires, prior to the match between the Albiceleste and Chile, Ángel Di María, who retired from the Argentine national team after recently winning the Copa América in the United States, received a great tribute from the public present.

Later, their teammates until two months ago obtained the victory against Chile to remain at the top of the standings with 18 points in seven games played, and consolidate their position as sole leader of the standings. La Roja, absent from the last two World Cups, remained in the penultimate position with 7.

The top six teams will play in the World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, while the seventh-placed team will play a play-off against a team from another confederation.

In the resumption of the qualifiers after almost ten months and after the second Copa América championship, the Albiceleste had to deal with the absences of the two most unbalanced players in the series of titles that began in 2021 with the Copa América and continued with the Finalíssima and the World Cup in 2022.

Captain Messi, 37, suffered a ligament injury in his right ankle in the Copa America final against Colombia and his return to action has yet to be scheduled. Winger Di Maria, meanwhile, has retired from the national team.

Forced to replace figures who have been practically immovable in the last decade, coach Lionel Scaloni appealed to a change of scheme with five defenders and in offense he joined Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez.

With intensity and the suffocation of the opponent at the start that are their distinctive trademarks, the Albiceleste dominated the visitors in the first minutes and had a clear chance to score when Rodrigo De Paul played with Martínez, who returned the ball with his heel and the Atlético Madrid midfielder hit it hard with his right foot. The goalkeeper Gabriel Arias did his best to prevent the celebration.

Chile, also limited by the absence of illustrious names from the Golden Generation, such as Alexis Sánchez and Arturo Vidal, both injured, understood that the match demanded a dose of trickery to calm the world champion and could even have gone into the break in the lead with a header from Matías Catalán that hit the post.

At the start of the second half, Álvarez came down the right and passed the ball to Martínez. The Inter Milan striker let it pass between his legs and Mac Allister appeared by surprise in the six-yard box to finish with his right foot in the 48th minute.

With the calm of the lead just after the start of the second half, Argentina conserved its strength and relied on the safe circulation of the ball. Scaloni, in turn, gave minutes to the usual substitutes Paulo Dybala, wearing Messi’s number 10, and Alejandro Garnacho.

“Spider” Álvarez celebrated his tenth goal for the national team in the 84th with a left-footed shot from outside the area, while Dybala sealed the match with a shot off Arias’ near post in full time.

Argentina will visit Colombia in Barranquilla on Tuesday, while Chile – without midfielder Marcelino Núñez, suspended after reaching the limit of yellow cards – will host Bolivia.