Chile secures a saving 4-2 victory against Venezuela in the 12th round of the ongoing 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, making this Ricardo Gareca’s first win as a manager.
This win brings Chile’s total points in the tournament to nine putting them in a four points away from the playoff zone.
Chile started the game with lapses on their defense looking like they may not win through, providing an opportunity to Jefferson Savarino to find the net in the 12th minute of the game converting a good pass from Yeferson Soteldo.
Chile did not waste much time before they responded with an equalizer through a thunderous shot from Eduardo Vargas in the 20th minute through an assist from Lucas Cepeda who was a playmaker in the match.
Two minutes after the equalizer, Venezuela scored another goal to take the lead after a poor clearance from Paulo Díaz while Rubén Ramírez converted the opportunity into a goal. Chile’s undying spirit counted for them when Gabriel Suazo’s strike deflected by Tomás Rincón went inside the net to make it a 2-2 in the 29th minute.
Cepeda put in more efforts a left footed show to give Chile the lead in the 38th minute before the game was sealed with a nice long range attempt just immediately the second half began.
VAR ruled out Luciano Cabral’s goal in the injury time despite his excellent performance in the match and coming in as a replacement.
Although, the win has now given Gareca and his team a very good morale and energy that is needed to compete in subsequent qualifying matches with the hope of winning them.
