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Alexis Sanchez 2011. Author Gobierno de Chile. Wikimedia Commons

10 Best Football (Soccer) Players from Chile

Chile has participated in nine World Cup tournaments. they also hosted the 1962 FIFA World Cup where they finished in third place, the highest position the country has ever achieved in the World Cup. However, this time round, they failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup to be held in Qatar later in the year.

1. Alexis Sanchez

Alexis Sanchez. Author En Todos Lados!! from Chile.

Alexis Alejandro Sánchez, also known as Alexis, is one of the most famous names in modern football. He is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Chile national team. He is remembered asalso one of the stars in the English Premier League playing for Arsenal, Manchester United amongst other teams.

The young lad still has the best years of his career ahead of him but has already won a La Liga title, the Copa Del Rey and the FIFA Club World Cup with a dominant Barcelona side. He also scored both goals for Chile as they beat England at Wembley in November last year, emulating Marcelo Salas’s feat from 15 years previous.

His tally of 65 caps at such a young age points to the level of esteem he is held in in his own country.

2. Arturo Vidal

Arturo Vidal. Author Real_Madrid_vs_Juventus,_24_October_2013_Champions_League_B_22.JPG: LauraHale.

A product of kolo kolo, Arturo Vidal has established himself as one of the continent’s finest box-to-box midfielders. 

Since joining Juventus as a midfielder in 2011, Vidal has helped the Italian giants to two Serie A titles, including an unbeaten 2011-12 campaign. He has already made 53 appearances in a seven-year international career and scoring eight goals for his country.

In addition to being voted the Chilean Player of the Year in 2010, he was also named as Juventus’ Player of the Year for his performances in the 2012-13 title-winning campaign.

3. Marcelo Salas

Playing alongside Zamorano up front at the 1998 World Cup, was Marcelo Salas, who scored four goals in four games at that tournament and went on to become his country’s highest ever goal scorer with 37 from just 71 games.

With a prolific scoring record for both Universidad de Chile and River Plate, the player moved to Lazio in 1998, where he won the Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the Cup Winners’ Cup in a successful three-year stint. He then moved to Juventus, where despite injuries, he still managed to add a further two league titles to his collection.

In addition to scoring 11 goals in the qualifying campaign for France ’98, Salas also scored twice at Wembley to hand Chile a famous victory over England before going on to net against both Italy and Brazil in the tournament itself.

4. Sergio Livingstone

A fabulous goalkeeper, Sergio Livingstone was Chilean football’s first real star throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s, bursting onto the scene during the 1941 South American Championships that earned him the Player of the Tournament award.

He made a record 34 appearances in that competition, now known as the Copa America. He also featured for his country in the 1950 World Cup, despite failing to get past the first group phase in Brazil.

Nicknamed ‘The Toad’ due to his stance while standing in goal, he retired as the most capped player in Chile’s history with 52 caps, having also won two domestic league titles at club level.

5. Ivan Zamorano

A great goal scorer at both club and international level, Ivan Zamorano holds the record of the second-highest scorer in Chile’s history. He has 34 goals from just 69 matches. His international career spanned 14 years and one World Cup.

He notably played for Spanish giants Real Madrid at club level, scoring 37 goals in 45 matches during his debut season at the Bernabeu. He went on to score 77 times in 137 games overall. He also played for Inter Milan and Sevilla in addition to stints in Chile, Switzerland and Mexico, scoring almost 350 career goals.

Internationally, he helped Chile to a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games, finishing the tournament as top scorer, while he also picked up a La Liga title, a Copa Del Rey amongst other accolades.

6. Leonel Sanchez

He was a left-winger and made 84 appearances for La Roja. He also enjoyed a 13-year international career that spanned two World Cups, including the 1962 edition on home soil.

During the 1962 World Cup, Leonel finished as joint top scorer of that tournament having netted four times in just six matches and was included in the All-Star Team as Chile recorded their best-ever finish at a World Cup.

Most of his playing career at club level were spent at Universidad de Chile despite receiving offers from European giants such as AC Milan, scoring 366 goals in just 411 matches to help his side to six national championships in the space of 10 years.

7. Gabriel Arias Arroyo

Gabriel Arias. Author The legendary Captain.

Though he was an Argentine-born Chilean, he qualified to play for Chile through his maternal grandmother. He was a goalkeeper and made his debut on 4 June 2018, in a friendly match against Serbia, where he played the whole match and kept a clean sheet on a 1–0 victory.

Despite being born in Chile and being one of the key players for Racing to win the 2018–19 Argentine league, Arias was asked by media if he would play for the Argentina national team, considering that he had played for Chile in friendly matches only. He maintained his position of representing Chile internationally.

8. Víctor Felipe Méndez Obando

 Víctor Felipe Méndez Obando (born 23 September 1999) is a Chilean football player who plays as a midfielder for Russian club CSKA Moscow and the Chilean National Team. He made his debut for the Chile national team on 9 December 2021 in a 2–2 draw against Mexico.

9. Diego Alfonso Valdés Contreras

 Diego Alfonso Valdés Contreras is a Chilean professional footballer.  who plays as an attacking midfielder for Liga MX club América and the Chile national team as a midfielder. He was born on 30 January 1994, and made his professional debut in 2012, in a match against Universidad Católica for the Chilean Primera División.

He got his first call up to the senior Chile squad for a friendly against the United States in January 2015 and made his international debut in the match.

On September 10, 2018, a day before a friendly match between Chile and South Korea, Valdés made a racist gesture at a fan publicity event. The gesture was reported internationally, and he was forced to make an apology which was widely seen as inadequate.

10. Diego Martín Valencia

Diego Martín Valencia Morello is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Salernitana and the Chile national football team.

Valencia made his debut in 2018 in the match against Deportes Iquique in San Carlos de Apoquindo. On next match, he gave assistance for the goal of the draw against Palestinian in La Cisterna.

At senior level, he was called up to the Chile squad for the 2021 Copa América Quarterfinals to replace Guillermo Maripán due to an injury, making his international debut against Brazil.