The second round of FIFA World Cup qualifying kicks off this week with Chile taking on the Estadio Monumental David Arellano on Wednesday morning. Hosts Chile are currently in eighth place in the early stages of the competition after a heartbreaking loss in their opening match of the qualifiers, while their opponents, Colombia, are currently in fourth place after opening the weekend's fixtures.
Chile lost 1-3 in their last match, ending a five-match unbeaten run that included three wins and two draws, a record that dates back to last November. Despite having 49% possession at the Estadio Centinario, Chile were overpowered by Marcelo Bielsa's side, with Nicolas de la Cruz and Federico Valverde giving their side a three-goal lead, while Arturo Vidal only managed a consolation goal with 15 minutes to go.
Edoardo Berizzo's side finished seventh in the 2020 to 2022 qualifiers, but with an expanded squad for the upcoming World Cup, Chile feel they have a great chance with six teams from South America now advancing straight through and the seventh-placed team going into the play-offs. Historically, matches between these two sides have been well balanced, with four of the last five matches drawn within 90 minutes, although the hosts know that this time around they will need to go all out to get the win or they could lose points in their next few games.
Colombia, on the other hand, have made a positive start to their qualifying campaign as they beat Venezuela 1-0 last weekend, with Rafael Borre scoring the only goal of the game in the first minute after the break. However, despite taking the points in this game, Néstor Lorenzo may feel that his side should have done better as they outplayed their opponents considerably but only scored one goal from 13 attempts. However, with this result, they have now won five consecutive games in all competitions, with their last loss coming in the last round of this qualifier last February.
Colombia are renowned for their fluid attacking soccer, but their greatest strength of late has been their defense, which has not conceded a goal in any of their last three matches and has shut out their opponents in five of their last seven. Like their rivals, Colombia failed to secure a World Cup qualifying spot in the last edition of the competition, although they finished four points ahead of Chile on points and won the last meeting 3-1, albeit that was in Barranquilla.
PREDICTION: Chile 1-1 ColombiaDespite being beaten in their opening game, Chile were still able to get some positive results against a very good looking Uruguayan side. The hosts will have a few days to assess what they did wrong, and we expect they can do better at home this time around and get their first point of the tournament by drawing with Colombia.
