The history of the Chile national football team dates back to the team's formation and first ever international match in 1910.
Early years
The Federación de Fútbol de Chile is the second oldest South American federation, having been founded in the port city of Valparaíso on June 19, 1895.
Chile was one of the four founding member nations of CONMEBOL. Together with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, the four competed in the first South American Championship, later to be renamed the Copa América, in 1916. On October 12, 1926, Chile made the first corner-kick goal in Copa América history in a match against Bolivia.
1930 World Cup
At the first ever FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay in 1930, Chile was among the thirteen nations invited to participate in the tournament.
The manager of Chile was the young Hungarian György Orth. Chile was part of Group 1, with Argentina, Mexico, and France. Chile won their first two games, defeating Mexico 3–0 on 16 July, then France 1–0 on 19 July. Sharing the same number of points, Chile and Argentina played a decisive game, on 22 July at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, which ended 3–1 in Argentina's favor, and thus Chile failed to qualify for the second round.
1950 World Cup
The 1950 edition of the FIFA World Cup was held in Brazil. The Chilean manager at the tournament was Alberto Bucciardi, while the team captain was goal keeper Sergio Livingstone. "La Roja" were in group 2 and Chile lost their first two games against Spain and England, both with a score of 2–0. The last match was played against the United States, which Chile won by a score of 5–2, but it was not enough for Chile to advance to the next round.
1962 World Cup
The 1962 World Cup in Chile was the third World Cup hosted on South American soil. In 1960 the Great Chilean earthquake struck the country with the highest magnitude ever recorded: 9.5 on the Richter scale. Despite the disaster, plans went ahead for Chile to be the host nation of this World Cup tournament.
They won their first match, against Switzerland, by 3–1. The second match against Italy, which they won 2–0, became known as the Battle of Santiago. Although only two players were sent off by the English referee Ken Aston, the match saw repeated, deliberate attempts from players on both sides to harm opponents, and the teams needed police protection to leave the field in safety.
Chile defeated European champions USSR, to earn a semi-final against defending World Champions Brazil, but a capacity crowd of 76,600 watched Brazil beat the hosts 4–2. Chile eventually went on to take third place in a 1–0 victory over Yugoslavia in the playoff.
The team is said to have eaten Swiss cheese before beating Switzerland, spaghetti before beating Italy, and drank vodka before beating the USSR. They also drank coffee before the match against Brazil, although they did not win that match. This was Chile's best performance in a World Cup.
1966 World Cup
England was the stage for the eighth World Cup. It was also the first European World Cup that Chile took part in. Qualification for the 1966 edition ended with a play-off between Ecuador in Lima, Peru on 12 October 1965. Chilean manager, Francisco Hormazabal, resigned shortly before the event and was replaced by Luis Alamos. The match against Ecuador finished 2–1 in Chile's favor, with goals scored by Leonel Sanchez and Ruben Marcos, and the result secured Chile's World Cup berth.
Chile was unable to repeat the same success found in the previous World Cup of 1962. Facing the Soviet Union, Italy, and North Korea, Chile was only able to gain 1 point, with a 1–1 draw against North Korea. Chile scored two goals in the 1966 World Cup, both coming from Ruben Marcos.
1974 World Cup
Chile qualified for the 1974 World Cup after a controversial play-off with the USSR. Following a drawn first leg in Moscow, the Soviets refused to play the second leg at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, which had been used as a concentration camp by the military dictatorship of Pinochet. However, FIFA refused to switch the match to a neutral venue, so the Chilean players kicked off on an otherwise empty pitch, and scored into the unguarded USSR net, and because there was no opposition to restart the game, the referee awarded the match to Chile, ensuring they qualified for the 1974 finals.
At the tournament itself, Chile lost their opening game 1–0 to West Germany in Berlin, thanks to a long-range shot from Paul Breitner. Striker Carlos Caszely was sent off in the second half, thus becoming the first player awarded a red card in the tournament's history since the cards went into use.