Chile’s journey to another Copa América title started slow and ended in impressive fashion

Chile is once again the champions of the Copa América. They weren’t underdogs, but they weren’t favorites. Throughout the tournament, the spotlight was on Argentina, Mexico and hosts the United States. Chile didn’t come out of the gates flying, and were maybe perplexed that they had to defend their title a mere 12 months after their rapturous win on home soil in Santiago.

But defend it they did, and like all great national sides, they grew into the tournament, each performance better than the last, until they found themselves reunited with last year’s final opponent, Argentina. They emerged on top, and after a decade of building themselves into a major international program, La Roja has the right to call itself one of the best teams in international soccer. Let’s take a look back at how they got here, game by game.

1) Argentina 2, Chile 1, June 6

Chile entered the Copa América Centenario ranked fifth in the world by FIFA, but crisis loomed over them. Head coach Jorge Sampaoli had won the team their first international trophy in last year’s Copa América and resigned amid a dispute with the country’s federation. Juan Antonio Pizzi, having recently plied his trade in Mexico, was brought on to right the ship. The squad Pizzi brought to the U.S. was made up of the core that had been together since their youth days a decade before, but despite all that, nobody was quite sure that Chile had what it took to repeat as champions.

Their first group stage match against Argentina did little to dissuade those notions. The team looked sluggish, their signature pressing style not on full display. Ángel Di María took La Roja apart in the second half, and while substitute José Pedro Fuenzalida managed to peg one back at the death, this didn’t look like the same Chile that had been impressing on the world stage for the last several years.

2) Chile 2, Bolivia 1, June 10

When you play Bolivia, you should win by pretty fat scorelines if you have ambitions to win Copa América. Bolivia was probably the worst team in the whole tournament, losing all three of their matches to go along with their minus-five goal difference. Arturo Vidal put Chile up 1-0 early at the beginning of the second half, and didn’t take their foot off the pedal. But then substitute Jhasmani Campos stepped onto the field, and two minutes later did this:

Chile still couldn’t find a rhythm to get a winner. Eventually, Ronald Eguino took an Eduardo Vargas shot to the face, almost certainly inducing a concussion. He stayed on the pitch. Bolivia’s defense crumbled, and Luis Alberto Gutiérrez conceded a controversial penalty. Vidal slotted home, and Chile avoided an embarrassing draw. The team still looked as though they’d be lucky to get a semifinal berth.

3) Chile 4, Panama 2, June 14

This is where Chile found their second gear. They appeared sloppy on occasion against a Panama side missing some of their best players to yellow card suspension. Claudio Bravo in particular made mistakes in the concession of Panama’s two goals. It didn’t matter too much, because eventual Golden Ball winner Alexis Sánchez found his legs and did his usual I’m-going-to-be-everywhere-and-you-can’t-stop-me routine. La Roja finally managed to string together passes through the midfield and coordinate their pressing game. Sánchez’s brace combined with Eduardo Vargas’s two goals for a performance that suggested Chile might actually contend for the title. Tournament favorite and true home team Mexico awaited in the quarterfinals, and Chile’s run could have easily ended then and there.

4) Mexico 0, Chile 7, June 18

After their victory against Panama, I wrote that a Chile win over Mexico in the quarterfinals would be “an upset.“ I can be pretty dumb sometimes. All of Mexico’s problems came to the surface in Santa Clara, and Chile ran absolutely rampant on a team that didn’t know what hit them. Alexis Sánchez more or less grabbed the game by the throat and didn’t stop throttling El Tri for 90 minutes. Javier “Chicharito” Hernández was marked out of the game; without him, Mexico had no answers for Chile. Eduardo Vargas scored a hat trick in 13 minutes. Sánchez got himself another goal. Even Edson Puch, who hadn’t even been capped since 2012, got a brace.

The aggressiveness of their swarming press, the speed of their ball movement and the viciousness of their counterattacks represented the Chile we all knew and had grown to love. The boys in red suddenly looked unstoppable, and it looked almost certain that we’d get a rematch of last year’s Copa América final. Only Colombia stood in Chile’s way.

5) Colombia 0, Chile 2, June 22

From there, it wasn’t much of a game. Colombia head coach José Pékerman inexplicably kept Carlos Bacca on the bench. Los Cafeteros still managed to test Claudio Bravo, but the Barcelona keeper’s early-tournament yips were gone, and he shut Colombia down. The second half was delayed by more than two hours thanks to lightning storms in Chicago, and when the teams came back onto the pitch three hours after the game started, they were essentially playing in a swamp. Carlos Sánchez got sent off in the 57th minute, and the game was basically over then and there. Chile was back in the Copa América final.

6) Argentina 0, Chile 0 (a.e.t.), 2-4 penalties, June 26

This was the final that was ultimately the right one. These were the two teams that had the best tournaments in the aggregate. While not traditional rivals, the intensity of last year’s final made this the tastiest potential fixture to decide who hoisted the trophy. Chile was decisive against Colombia in the semifinals, but Argentina was coming off a demolition of a listless United States squad. Both teams were in this situation before, and there was no reason they wouldn’t neutralize each other again.

The match certainly started off promisingly. Both teams pressed hard and targeted the two most creative players on the pitch, Alexis Sánchez and Lionel Messi. They cancelled each other out for about 15 or 20 minutes. Then, referee Héber Lopes turned the game into a #RefShow, and by the 43rd minute, both teams were down to 10 men. The game became an absolute slog. Messi didn’t have his best game, but that had much to do with Chile swallowing him whole. Chile did what the U.S. said they were going to do and failed. Ángel Di María was a non-entity. Gonzalo Higuaín squandered chances. Chile executed the game plan. They weren’t particularly sharp in front of goal—they only managed four shots in the entire match—but it ultimately didn’t matter.

Chile’s wheelhouse is boundless, ferocious energy, and they woke up in extra time. Messi’s teammates helped him create numerous chances, but neither side found the net. It once again came down to penalties, and La Roja flipped the coin the right way more than La Albiceleste did.

Chile now goes to the Confederations Cup next year with two gold medals around their necks.

La Roja have been developing a golden generation of players for more than a decade to get to a moment like this. They had two head coaches, Marcelo Bielsa and Jorge Sampaoli, that helped cement a national style that took the world by storm in the last few major tournaments. Even despite last year’s long-awaited international triumph, Chile was still seen as a lesser light among the South American giants. That has all changed. La Roja is the best team not only on one continent, but two. They had to fight through organizational strife and frustrating play to lock into their best form. Once they did that, they were unstoppable. They wore down the world’s greatest player and outlasted his team from the penalty spot for a second consecutive year. It is Chile’s time, and we are blessed to witness one of the best national teams in the world in its prime.