Chile – Ecuador

Fans will see at least two goals scored by the teams in Santiago

Somewhat unexpectedly for South American qualification, the Ecuador national team climbed to second place after the thirteenth round. If you look at the history of performances of the "tricolours" in local qualifiers, at least in the last 20 years, this team has not finished higher than third position. The year before last, Ecuadorians failed miserably, finishing in eighth place and "flying" past the World Cup, and last year they finished in fourth position, which gave them the right to play at the Mundial in Qatar. Apparently, Ecuador keeps the mark and quietly qualify for the next World Cup. The Chileans easily passed the qualifying stages of the 2010 and 2014 tournaments, when their national team was "dragged" by young Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal. Chile missed the last two Mundials, losing their tickets in a serious struggle with their rivals. The Chileans have lost so much class in the current qualifiers that they risk finishing last for the first time in decades. Bookmakers have identified the hosts as the favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 2.50 on their victory. The Chilean national team has lost a lot of momentum in recent years. The team failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, taking only seventh place. At the America's Cup in the summer, the Chileans disappointed once again, failing to score a single goal in three matches and failing to reach the playoffs. Finally, in the current qualification for the 2026 World Cup, the team has so far beaten only weak Peru and Venezuela at home. The Chileans played their first match of the current year in Paraguay, where they looked pretty good. Another thing is that they failed to take away at least a point from Asuncion, conceding the only goal of the match in the 60th minute. Ecuador were just a little bit short of reaching the play-offs at the last World Cup. At the America's Cup, the national team reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to Argentina, the future winner of the tournament. And the world champions were stronger only in a penalty shootout, where Messi did not score, but his partners did not let him down. Ecuador have a six-match unbeaten streak and a three-match winning streak in qualifying for the next World Cup. Let's bet that the rivals will score at least twice in Santiago.