Argentina strengthened their hold on South America’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers with a dominant 3-0 win against Chile on Thursday.
Liverpool’s Mac Allister opened the scoring just three minutes into the second half with a sharp low finish at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, breaking through Chile’s resilient defense.
Former Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez extended the lead in the 84th minute with a long-range strike, and substitute Dybala capped off the victory with a stoppage-time goal.
The reigning world champions put on another impressive display, moving closer to securing their place at the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
Lionel Scaloni’s squad is currently leading the 10-team South American qualifying table by five points after seven matches. The top six teams in the standings will automatically qualify for the 2026 tournament, while the team finishing in seventh place will enter a playoff.
Argentina, who had also defeated Chile 1-0 to win consecutive Copa America titles earlier this year, went into Thursday’s match without their injured captain Lionel Messi and veteran winger Angel Di Maria, who retired from international football following the Copa America victory in July.
Di Maria was celebrated by his former teammates in a pre-match ceremony before watching from the stands as the world champions claimed their sixth win in seven qualifying matches.
Even without Messi and Di Maria, Argentina displayed strong creativity in attack, with Lautaro Martinez and Atletico Madrid’s Alvarez posing significant challenges to Chile’s defense. Dominating the midfield, Argentina had Mac Allister playing alongside Rodrigo De Paul and Enzo Fernandez.
After a tight first half, the breakthrough came in the 48th minute when Alvarez delivered a low cross from the right. Martinez smartly let the ball pass, allowing Mac Allister to fire a precise shot into the bottom corner.
