June 25, (THEWILL) – Argentina clinched their place in the Copa America knockout stages, thanks to a 1-0 victory over Chile at the MetLife Stadium. Lautaro Martinez’s 88th-minute strike was enough to seal the win for the reigning champions, moving them to the top of Group A with six points from two matches.
The match was dominated by Argentina, who unleashed a barrage of 13 shots in the first half alone. Despite their superiority, they struggled to break down a resilient Chilean defence, with goalkeeper Claudio Bravo making several crucial saves. Lionel Messi came close to opening the scoring in the 36th minute, but his long-range effort struck the outside of the post.
As the second half progressed, Argentina continued to press for the breakthrough. Nicolas Gonzalez saw his powerful drive tipped onto the crossbar by Bravo just after the hour mark. Argentine keeper Emiliano Martinez had to be alert to keep the deadlock when Chile had chances of their own. With time running out, manager Lionel Scaloni introduced Angel Di Maria and Martinez in an attempt to find a winner.
The substitution paid off in dramatic fashion. With just two minutes remaining, a corner fell kindly for Martinez, who reacted quickest to fire home and send Argentina through to the quarter-finals. The victory extends Argentina’s impressive record against Chile, with La Albiceleste now unbeaten in their last 13 meetings over 90 minutes.
For Chile, the defeat leaves their tournament hopes hanging by a thread. They failed to register a shot on target until the 72nd minute and have now gone four consecutive Copa America matches without scoring. La Roja will need to address their attacking woes quickly as they face a must-win final group game against Canada to keep their quarter-final aspirations alive.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
