Chile may go into the World Cup somewhat underestimated in the World Cup odds despite a good qualifying campaign.
Chile are still unlikely winners of the World Cup but they are likely to do their fans proud and they look a value price in the World Cup odds if nothing else.
Chile are in the same group as World Cup favourites Spain, who are extremely likely to win the group. That means they are looking to be best of the rest agaisnt Switzerland and Honduras, Chile were second best qualifiers from South America and look a class above Switzerland.
As previously mentioned above, Chile are strongly fancied to come second. That means they are highly likely to face Brazil in the Second Round (should Brazil win their group), Brazil beat Chile both times they played in qualifying.
Chile are strongly fancied to beat both Switzerland (who have been very poor in friendlies in the lead up to the World Cup) and also Honduras, who are one of the tournament outsiders. That means they just have to lose to Spain (highly likely) to get exactly six points.
Chile kept eight clean sheets in qualifying which is a great record considering some of the flair sides they came up against. Switzerland don't really have a recognised goalscorer and the odds on Chile winning with a clean sheet are very generous.
No one in South America scored more goals in qualifying and his ten goals meant he finished comfortbaly Chile's top scorer, the next best player managed just four goals. Clearly he is Chile's most lethal player.
Click ODDS to see full betting previews and latest odds for each of the Chile World Cup matches
| Date | Team | Scores | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13/10/07 | Argentina | 2 - 0 | Chile |
| 17/10/07 | Chile | 2 - 0 | Peru |
| 18/11/07 | Uruguay | 2 - 2 | Chile |
| 21/11/07 | Chile | 0 - 3 | Paraguay |
| 15/06/08 | Bolivia | 0 - 2 | Chile |
| 19/06/08 | Venezuela | 2 - 3 | Chile |
| 07/09/08 | Chile | 0 - 3 | Brazil |
| 10/09/08 | Chile | 4 - 0 | Columbia |
| 12/10/08 | Ecuador | 1 - 0 | Chile |
| 15/10/08 | Chile | 1 - 0 | Argentina |
| 29/03/09 | Peru | 1 - 3 | Chile |
| 01/04/09 | Chile | 0 - 0 | Uruguay |
| 06/06/09 | Paraguay | 0 - 2 | Chile |
| 10/06/09 | Chile | 4 - 0 | Bolivia |
| 05/09/09 | Chile | 2 - 2 | Venezuela |
| 09/09/09 | Brazil | 4 - 2 | Chile |
| 10/10/09 | Columbia | 2 - 4 | Chile |
| 14/10/09 | Chile | 1 - 0 | Ecuador |
Chile have surprised many with their solid qualifying campaign and there could be a few more surprises yet from the South American side.
| Goalkeepers | Claudio Bravo (Real Sociedad/Spain), Miguel Pinto (Universidad de Chile), Luis Marin (Union Espanola) |
| Defenders | Pablo Contreras (PAOK/Greece), Ismael Fuentes (Universidad Catolica), Mauricio Isla (Udinese/Italy), Gary Medel (Boca Juniors/Argentina), Gonzalo Jara (West Bromwich/England), Waldo Ponce (Universidad Catolica), Arturo Vidal (Bayer Leverkusen/Germany) |
| Midfielders | Carlos Carmona (Reggina/Italy), Marco Estrada (Universidad de Chile), Matias Fernandez (Sporting Lisbon/Portugal), Gonzalo Fierro (Flamengo/Brazil), Rodrigo Millar (Colo Colo), Rodrigo Tello (Besiktas/Turkey), Jorge Valdivia (Al-Ain/United Arab Emirates) |
| Strikers | Jean Beausejour (America/Mexico), Mark Gonzalez (CSKA Moscow/Russia), Fabian Orellana (Xerez/Spain), Esteban Paredes (Colo Colo), Alexis Sanchez (Udinese/Italy), Humberto Suazo (Real Zaragoza/Spain) |
| Year | Stage of Exit |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Did Not Qualify |
| 2002 | Did Not Qualify |
| 1998 | Eliminated by Brazil in Second Round |
| 1994 | Did not qualify |
| 1990 | Did Not Qualify |
Back Chile to win the World Cup and either lay off when the price halves, or when they reach the second phase, whichever happens soonest. Even with a tough draw in the second round there is a chance a couple of the bigger sides will have been eliminated and Chile's odds would have fallen as a consequence.
Buy Chile in the outright tournament index, you should at least break even unless they really don't turn up for the group stage and they might even reach the quarter final with a bit of luck. Either way the reward should be bigger than the risk.