Argentina cruise past Chile in World Cup qualifiers after homage to Di María

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Alexis Mac Allister, Julián Álvarez and Paulo Dybala were on target as Argentina tightened their grip on South America's 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament with a 3-0 win over Chile on Thursday.

Liverpool midfielder Mac Allister swept in a low finish three minutes after half-time to break the deadlock at River Plate's Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires against a defensive Chile side.

Former Manchester City striker Álvarez, who signed for Atlético Madrid last month, doubled the lead in the 84th minute with a thumping shot from outside the area before substitute Dybala put the seal on the victory with a late strike in stoppage time.

It was another clinical victory for the reigning world champions, who are now cruising towards confirming their place at the 2026 finals being staged in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Lionel Scaloni's team lead South America's 10-team round-robin qualifying table by five points after seven games.

The top six teams in the final standings qualify automatically for the 2026 finals in North America with the seventh-placed team advancing to a playoff.

Argentina, who also beat Chile 1-0 on their way to clinching back-to-back Copa América titles earlier this year, went into Thursday's game missing injured captain Lionel Messi and veteran winger Ángel Di María, who retired from international football after the Copa América triumph in July.

Di María was feted by his former teammates at a pre-game ceremony before taking his place in the stands to watch the world champions secure their sixth win from seven qualifying games.

Despite the absence of Messi and Di María, Argentina had plenty of creative guile in attack with Lautaro Martínez and Álvarez causing problems for the Chile defence.

Argentina, meanwhile, controlled midfield with Mac Allister lining up alongside Rodrigo De Paul and Enzo Fernández.

After a cagey first-half, the breakthrough came in the 48th minute when Álvarez whipped in a low cross from the right.

Martuínez dummied cleverly and allowed the ball to roll through to Mac Allister, who guided an accurate shot into the bottom corner.

In Thursday's other qualifier, Bolivia reignited their campaign with a 4-0 drubbing over Venezuela in a game played more than 4,000m (13,100 feet) above sea level.

Goals from Ramiro Vaca, Carmelo Algarañaz, Miguel Terceros and Enzo Monteiro handed Bolivia only their second win of qualifying and lifted them into seventh place in the standings.

The result was a vindication of Bolivia's move to play Thursday's game in El Alto rather than at their usual home venue in neighbouring La Paz, which is 3,600m above sea level.

The thin air of El Alto clearly left Venezuela's players struggling for energy against a Bolivian team aiming to qualify for their first World Cup since reaching the 1994 finals in the United States.

Despite his team's heavy loss, Venezuela coach Fernando Batista refused to dwell on the altitude issue after the game.

"Out of 10 questions, eight are about altitude," Batista said. "You won't hear anything from me about it."

Venezuela, the only team from South America never to have qualified for a World Cup, remain well-placed to reach the finals despite Thursday's loss.

The 'Vinotinto' are fourth in the standings with nine points from seven games, trailing Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia.

Venezuela host Uruguay next Tuesday in their eighth game of qualifying.

South America's qualifiers continue on Friday with second-placed Uruguay hosting Paraguay in Montevideo while struggling Brazil, who are 11 points adrift of leaders Argentina in sixth, face Ecuador in Curitiba.

Third-placed Colombia, meanwhile, travel to Lima to face bottom-of-the-table Peru.

Fond farewell

Di María, who announced his retirement after winning the Copa América in the United States, received a huge tribute from adoring fans at the Monumental ahead of Argentina's match against Chile.

An hour before the match, the Rosario TV star was introduced by Sergio Goycochea, runner-up goalkeeper at Italy 1990 and current TV presenter.

A video was shown of the difficult moments 'Fideo' suffered before he triumphed with the Albiceleste.

The video included words of thanks from Messi, who sent him a message from Miami, where he is recovering from the injury.

"We are going to miss you a lot," said the Argentina skipper.

Moved to tears, Di María was accompanied on the itch by his wife and daughters, and received chants of thanks from the fans.

"It's difficult to talk, I have a lot of feelings inside. I went through difficult times and then I had many joys. I had the chance to play with several generations, to be with great players, the bad luck of not being able to win some tournaments and then win everything," said the Benfica star.

"I will be eternally grateful, I will continue on the outside, supporting you. Now I'll be with you [the fans]," Di María, who was carried onto the pitch by his former teammates.

Di María, 36, bids farewell to the Albiceleste after 18 seasons with the senior national team.

His roll of honour includes the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Copa América in Brazil 2021 and USA 2024, as well as Olympic gold at Beijing 2008 and the Under-20 World Youth Championship in Canada 2007.

Di María scored decisive goals for the national team, including key strikes in the Olympic Games final against Nigeria, the only goal in the 1-0 final win over Brazil at the Maracanã in 2021 and another stunning goal against France in the World Cup final in Qatar.

– TIMES/AFP

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