It’s the second round of group games at the 2024 Copa America, with the defending champions in action at MetLife Stadium. Look ahead to the game with our Chile vs Argentina prediction and preview.
Chile vs Argentina Stats: The Key Insights
- The Opta supercomputer makes Argentina the favourites here, winning 66.5% of its 10,000 pre-match simulations.
- Argentina have lost just one of their last 14 games, winning the other 13.
- Chile have failed to score in their last three games in the Copa America, a run of 378 minutes without a goal.
Lionel Messi expects a difficult test against Chile as Argentina look to maintain their unbeaten start at the 2024 Copa America.
Argentina play their penultimate Group A match at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Wednesday against La Roja, having beaten Canada 2-0 on Matchday 1.
La Albiceleste impressed in their opener, registering 19 shots on goal, surpassing the combined total of 18 shots taken by Chile and Peru in the other Group A meeting.
Messi, who broke the Copa America appearance record during that match, expressed the importance of their victory in the opening game but knows his side are in for a competitive encounter with Ricardo Gareca’s side.
“Yeah, we’ve always known how tough the opening game is. The most important thing is to get off to a winning start,” Messi said.
“It’s not happened previously under [Lionel] Scaloni, so that calms things down because you suffer a lot when you start off losing.
“But we always play the same way. We’re in a difficult group, and now we have to face a very good and competitive team.
“Ricardo Gareca’s arrival has given [Chile] something else as well.
“We’re happy to have started with a win, but we’re now going to rest and prepare for Chile… We know that we have to be a team and achieve our goals in the right way.
“We know that the only path to do so is in our own way, so we will continue with the same humility and desire to win.”
Meanwhile, Chile will be hopeful of improving their recent record against Argentina, having failed to get the better of them since the 2016 Copa America final, though they needed penalties to get the victory on that occasion.
They are certainly familiar foes, with this their 30th meeting at the Copa America. Chile are the third-most frequent opponent for Argentina, behind only Brazil (34) and Uruguay (32).
La Albiceleste remain unbeaten against Chile in these encounters (21 wins, eight draws). However, Chile clinched their two titles by defeating Argentina in penalty shootouts in the 2015 and 2016 finals.
Since 2011, Argentina have the fewest losses (two) among teams that have played in more than one Copa America edition. They also boast the most victories in the tournament during this period (18).
Chile, however, will be looking to upset the odds. They are looking for their first win in games between the two teams since June 2016. During that time, Argentina have outscored Chile 7-4, something that will need to change to increase their chances of progression.
Chile began their 2024 campaign with a goalless draw against Peru at AT&T Stadium in Texas, managing to register just one shot on target from the 11 they attempted.
Gareca’s side have now failed to score in their last three games in the Copa America, a run of 378 minutes without a goal.
However, the 66-year-old isn’t concerned about their lack of form in front of goal ahead of their showdown with his home country.
“We were not able to create many plays and execute them [against Peru]. We were under a lot of pressure, and sometimes we were not accurate in our passes,” said Gareca, who became the 10th coach to have managed different teams in consecutive editions of the competition.
“I’m not concerned. I think this will be useful for us to analyse our game to improve our game.
“We, of course, hoped to win the match. But I think it’s very important that we’re able to take a point, and we still have two matches ahead of us.”
Players to Watch
Chile: Victor Davila
Victor Davila will be hoping to rediscover the scoring touch he showed before the Copa America.
Having scored three goals and claimed one assist in his previous three international appearances heading into their opener against Peru, the CSKA Moscow striker provided glimpses of his attacking threat.
The 26-year-old had the joint-most shots (three) and the most touches in the opposition box (five), but failed to register a shot on target, coming off in the 65th minute with an expected goals (xG) total of 0.22.
Argentina: Lionel Messi
Messi has played in 35 out of 36 matches for Argentina in the Copa America since his debut. The only match he missed was a 2-1 group-stage victory against Tuesday’s opponents in 2016.
The Inter Miami star registered an assist for Lautaro Martínez’s late goal, reaching 50 direct goal involvements in official competitions for club and country on US soil (30 goals and 20 assists).
However, Messi will be hoping to add to his 108 international goals at MetLife Stadium. Should he score, it will take his Copa America tally to 14, level with Chile’s Eduardo Vargas and Peru’s Paolo Guerrero, three away from equalling Norberto Méndez’s record (17).
Chile vs Argentina Prediction
The Opta supercomputer is heavily backing Argentina to maintain their unbeaten start at the 2024 Copa America. They won 66.5% of the pre-match simulations.
Chile won just 15.1% of sims, but came away with what would be a credible draw in the remaining 18.4%.
Chile vs Argentina Squads
Chile
Brayan Cortés, Claudio Bravo, Gabriel Arias, Benjamín Kuscevic, Gabriel Suazo, Guillermo Maripán, Igor Lichnovsky, Matías Catalán, Mauricio Isla, Nicolás Fernández, Paulo Díaz, Thomas Galdames, César Pérez, Diego Valdés, Erick Pulgar, Esteban Pavez, Marcelino Núñez, Rodrigo Echeverría, Alexis Sánchez, Ben Brereton, Cristián Zavala, Darío Osorio, Eduardo Vargas, Marcos Bolados, Maximiliano Guerrero, Víctor Dávila.
Head coach: Ricardo Gareca
Argentina
Emiliano Martínez, Franco Armani, Gerónimo Rulli, Cristian Romero, Germán Pezzella, Gonzalo Montiel, Lisandro Martínez, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Marcos Acuña, Nahuel Molina, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico, Alexis Mac Allister, Ángel Di María, Enzo Fernández, Exequiel Palacios, Giovani Lo Celso, Guido Rodríguez, Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Valentín Carboni, Alejandro Garnacho, Julián Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez, Lionel Messi, Nicolás González.
Head coach: Lionel Scaloni
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