Argentina vs. Chile score, result: Mac Allister, Alvarez lead Albiceleste to World Cup qualifying win without Messi

Lionel Scaloni and Argentina have long known that it doesn't matter how the matches look, as long as they result in victories.

Occasionally, though, it's nice to have fun while doing it.

After surviving a first half with lots of possession and little to show for it, Argentina romped to a 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Chile behind second-half goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Julian Alvarez, and Paulo Dybala.

In the absence of Lionel Messi, who is missing this international break due to an ankle injury suffered in the Copa America final, Argentina hardly missed a beat. They nearly faltered just before halftime as a header by Chile defender Matias Catalan clattered the woodwork but recovered well to secure a big win.

Mac Allister got things started shortly after halftime, crashing home the game's first goal after a wonderful dummy by Lautaro Martinez. They cruised from there, comfortable with the one-goal lead, able to keep Chile from building any kind of noticeable attacking presence.

In the final 10 minutes, Argentina broke things open, first on a glittering stunner from Julian Alvarez who scored maybe the goal of the year for the Albiceleste with a sensational snipe of the top-left corner. Paulo Dybala, wearing Messi's No. 10, added gloss to the scoreline when he came off the bench to beat Gabriel Arias at his near post a minute into stoppage time.

The win for Argentina moves them five points clear at the top of the CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup qualifying standings, while Chile drop to ninth after Bolivia's huge 4-0 win over Venezuela.

Argentina vs. Chile final score

Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT
Location: Estadio Mas Monumental (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Referee: Jesus Valenzuela (VEN)

Starting lineups:

Argentina (4-3-3, right to left): 23. E. Martinez (GK) — 2. Molina, 13. Romero, 19. Otamendi, 3. Li. Martinez (Acuna, 79') — 7. De Paul, 20. Mac Allister (Dybala, 79'), 14. E. Fernandez — 9. Alvarez (Castellanos, 88'), 22. La. Martinez (Garnacho, 79'), 15. N. Gonzalez (Lo Celso, 51').

Chile (4-3-3, right to left): 12. Arias (GK) — 4. Isla, 5. P. Diaz, 21. Catalan, 6. Galdames (Mena, 72') — 7. M. Nunez (Alcaron, 62'), 18. Echeverria (Baeza, 72'), 15. Loyola — 8. Osorio, 11. E. Vargas (B. Diaz, 80'), 10. Davila (Palacios, 62').

MORE: All the latest soccer action | Lionel Messi news

CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings

* Ecuador were docked 3 points as punishment for falsification of documents regarding eligibility of Byron Castillo

Argentina vs. Chile live updates, highlights from World Cup qualifying

FULLTIME: Argentina 3-0 Chile

The match ends with an emphatic victory for Argentina, as Chile just could not stick with the World Cup champions for the full 90 minutes. In truth, we knew it was over for some time. Argentina failed to create much in the first 45 minutes, but they had plenty of attacking intent and it felt like they would break through eventually if things remained.

They improved significantly in the second half, and punished Chile for their lack of desire to see the ball in play. Once the referee made it clear he would not stand for their time-wasting, they had few other ideas to reach 90 minutes unscathed.

90+1 min: GOAL! ARGENTINA! Paulo Dybala scores Argentina's third while wearing Lionel Messi's number!

Using Alejandro Garnacho as a decoy to help the defenders drop off, Dybala cuts the ball onto his left and beats the goalkeeper at his own near post. That's not one that Gabriel Arias will want to watch back! Big yikes.

90th min: Chance, Argentina! Alejandro Garnacho is clean through on goal, but from a tight angle, he's cut off by Gabriel Arias and can't get the ball past the Chile goalkeeper!

88th min: With his goal in hand, Julian Alvarez departs for Taty Castellanos who makes his Argentina debut.

84th min: GOAL! ARGENTINA! IT'S AN ABSOLUTE STUNNER FROM JULIAN ALVAREZ. An utterly dazzling goal from outside the penalty area, as he crashes the ball in off the underside of the crossbar!

The Atletico Madrid forward takes aim with his left foot from about 21 yards out and snipes the top-left corner, clipping the woodwork on its way in!

78th min: The goal scorer Alexis Mac Allister is withdrawn and gets a huge applause from the Argentina faithful at Estadio Mas Monumental. He's replaced by Paulo Dybala, who's wearing Lionel Messi's No. 10 shirt. Alejandro Garnacho also enters, replacing Lautaro Martinez, and Marcos Acuna takes over for Lisandro Martinez.

Chile respond by bringing on Ben Brereton Diaz to replace Eduardo Vargas, who was invisible tonight. The man coming doesn't have much time to make an impact.

71st min: Now a yellow card is shown to Gio Lo Celso for a really late foul on Felipe Loyola that caused the Chilean midfielder's leg to bend awkwardly. It didn't help Lo Celso that when he got up he stepped right over Loyola and seemed to hit him with his leg on the way through.

Two more Chile substitutions follow. Thomas Galdames and Rodrigo Echeverria are withdrawn, replaced by Eugenio Mena and Claudio Baeza.

66th min: It didn't take long for Argentina to regain control of the match, and Paulo Diaz is booked for a foul in midfield on Lautaro Martinez.

60th min: Chile have finally managed to get themselves on the ball a bit more, and they're pressuring the Argentina back line for the first time in the match. They've won a corner, but not before a pair of players enter. Carlos Palacios and Williams Alcaron come on for Victor Davila and Marcelino Nunez.

Ricardo Gareca withdraws his two booked players.

55th min: Argentina have looked to take the air out of the ball with possession, and they've managed to keep it away from Chile.

51st min: Nico Gonzalez has exited for Gio Lo Celso, as it appears the Argentina winger has taken a bit of a knock.

48th min: GOAL! ARGENTINA! There's the opener, as Alexis Mac Allister arrives late to a rebound and smashes it into the back of the net! It's been coming for a while, as Chile have just not been able to get out of their own third.

A brilliant dummy by Lautaro Martinez makes it happen, as he lets a cross by Julian Alvarez go through his legs right to Mac Allister charging at full speed.

¡TREMENDO GOOOLAZO DE ALEXIIIIIIIIIIIS! ⚽🇦🇷

Mirá el partido en https://t.co/S24R6EXbgG y alentá a #ArgentinaXTelefe 🇦🇷 con los comentarios de @JPVarsky y relatos de @giraltpablo pic.twitter.com/iqkrc5B0GL

— telefe (@telefe) September 6, 2024

2nd half kickoff: They're back under way in Buenos Aires, with no changes for either side.

HALFTIME: Argentina 0-0 Chile

Argentina utterly dominated the entire first half, pummeling the Chile back line but failing to create many clear-cut chances. They were very nearly punished for their lack of offensive output, as Chile came so close to scoring the opener out of nothing just before halftime.

Chile have tried to waste as much time as humanly possible each and every stoppage by surrounding the official and arguing absolutely everything, which only served to get the referee absurdly angry.

45+1 min: Chance, Chile! CHILE HIT THE POST OUT OF ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! A speculative ball into the penalty area finds the head of Matias Catalan, who for some reason is up near the front of the attack. He out-jumps a completely unaware Nicolas Otamendi and heads across the face of goal, beating Emi Martinez but also beating the woodwork! SO close to a shock opener!

41st min: The referee has, very emphatically, had enough of Chile's antics. Marcelo Nunez and Victor Davila are both booked for dissent after the entire team surrounds the official following a tackle on the touchline. He very vigorously gestures for the team to disperse and cut it out.

He is forced to come to the touchline and have a conversation with Chile head coach Ricardo Gareca to tell him his players have to calm down and get on with the match.

33rd min: Gabriel Arias comes out to punch away a cross, and levels Lautaro Martinez in the process. Crunch. Totally legal, though!

30th min: A yellow card is shown to Rodrigo De Paul as the two sides come together again. He is fairly booked for a tackle on Victor Davila, but there's no malice in the tackle, only the lateness of it. Still, Chilean players milk it for all the possible time, and waste as many seconds as humanly possible after the play pretending to be upset.

27th min: For the second time in this match, Nicolas Otamendi stops a one-on-one shot on target from reaching Emi Martinez with a last-second sliding block. He's been immense stopping counter-attacks thus far.

21st min: Chance, Argentina! Now Gabriel Arias is forced to work hard! A header by Nico Gonzalez off a corner is on target, but too close to the goalkeeper who once again gets down to make an important save!

19th min: Chance, Argentina! As we just said moments ago, the chances do begin to flow for Argentina! Rodrigo De Paul forces a big save from Gabriel Arias, who sees a shot from the Albiceleste midfielder sting his palms from the right.

18th min: This has been an onslaught of Argentina pressure so far, but they have yet to test the goalkeeper quite yet, as the Chile defense is maintaining an effective low block with large numbers. At this rate, however, the chances will come for the hosts if Chile cannot relieve the pressure.

10th min: A beautiful buildup by Argentina ends with Julian Alvarez deftly laying off to Rodrigo De Paul for a looped shot on goal, but it's just barely clipped out of play by the head of Matias Catalan before it can reach Gabriel Arias's goal.

6th min: An early scuffle! The players converge as Cristian Romero gives Victor Davila a bit of a shove in the back. Watching the replay, there's absolutely nothing in that, and it's unclear why the Chile players were so furious about that foul. Just all so unnecessary, let's get on with the match.

2nd min: Argentina have to do some early defending as a critical tackle from Nicolas Otamendi stops an early Chile break at the top of the penalty area.

Interestingly, this is not a back-three formation for Lionel Scaloni. Instead, Lisandro Martinez is playing a straight-up left-back position, which is very unusual for a player who's primarily played center-back in his career. According to Transfermarkt, Lisandro has played left-back just 13 total times in his career at the club level, and once since 2020.

Kickoff: They're under way at Estadio Mas Monumental! A teary-eyed Angel Di Maria in the stands, and a quarter of the stadium capacity banned, this World Cup qualifying match has kicked off.

Argentina vs. Chile: Pre-match commentary, analysis, more

15 mins to kickoff: FINALLY, just 15 minutes before kickoff, we have access to the official lineups. We already had access to Argentina's experimental lineup early, but there's a wrinkle for Chile as well. It's no surprise that veteran Eduardo Vargas starts, but that he does so in place of Ben Brereton Diaz is interesting.

Head coach Ricardo Gareca has chosen to go with a pair of inexperienced defenders in Matias Catalan and Thomas Galdames, who have combined for eight international caps between them. Meanwhile, there's another inexperienced player in midfield as Felipe Loyola slots into the XI, with Vargas as the lone striker up front.

30 mins to kickoff: There is currently a tribute taking place at Estadio Mas Monumental to recognize the now-retired Angel Di Maria. "Fideo" made 145 international appearances, scoring 31 goals including the famous winner in the 2021 Copa America final vs. Brazil that helped Lionel Messi secure his first major international title.

Messi, fittingly, recorded a message that has been played over the video board in the stadium. "I hope you enjoy this evening a lot with your family and loved ones. We’ve said everything we needed to say. We shared so much, and who would have thought it would end this way? We’ll miss you a lot."

Messi finished his message by saying "see you soon." Is that possibly a hint at retirement in the near future?

❤️ Messi's message to Di Maria:

"I hope you enjoy this evening a lot with your family and loved ones. We’ve said everything we needed to say. We shared so much, and who would have thought it would end this way? We’ll miss you a lot. See you soon." 🥹

pic.twitter.com/d5BjV36hnv

— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) September 5, 2024

45 mins to kickoff: The stadium today will be at just 75% capacity, a sanction handed down by CONMEBOL for racist and discriminatory chanting by Argentina fans in previous matches against Uruguay and Ecuador. The ban represents a reduction of about 20,000 seats.

According to Gaston Edul, if the chanting is repeated tonight, FIFA and CONMEBOL are prepared to issue a full-capacity ban for a future Argentina match.

1 hour to kickoff: We're still waiting for official lineups, but there's word that Nicolas Otamendi will unsurprisingly captain Argentina in the absence of Lionel Messi. It will be the veteran defender's 118th international cap, and his fifth time wearing the armband for the international side.

1 hour 15 mins to kick: There's a festive atmosphere outside Estadio Mas Monumental in Buenos Aires ahead of tonight's match!

¡ASÍ SE VIVE LA PREVIA ARGENTINA-CHILE EN EL MONUMENTAL! 🥳

📽️ @LucasBendayan | @giulipsl pic.twitter.com/HPILppYkSg

— Diario Olé (@DiarioOle) September 5, 2024

1 hour 30 mins to kick: Chile are looking to usher in a transition away from the old guard and into a new era of talent. To help with that, veteran right-back Mauricio Isla has reportedly been chosen to captain the side tonight, which will be the 36-year-old's 143rd international cap.

1 hour 45 mins to kick: Reporting around Argentina's starting lineup suggests they will experiment with a three-center-back system, as Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, and Lisandro Martinez are all set to start. It's an interesting tactical wrinkle from Lionel Scaloni who hasn't been afraid to tinker with his system, but usually that experimentation comes in friendlies, not World Cup qualifiers.

🚨 Argentina XI vs. Chile: Emiliano Martínez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Lisandro; De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández; Julián, Lautaro and Nico González. Via @gastonedul. 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/PsjsvsMsQB

— Mundo Albiceleste ⭐🌟⭐🇦🇷 (@MundoAlbicelest) September 5, 2024

2 hours to kickoff: With Lionel Messi sidelined for this international break, Paulo Dybala has reportedly selected to wear the legend's No. 10 shirt. International numbers are redistributed each break, and while players often retain the same number, occasionally they can switch out depending on individual availability.

Argentina vs. Chile kickoff time

This CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup qualifying match kicks off from the Estadio Mas Monumental on Thursday, September 5 at 9 p.m. local time in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories around the globe:

Argentina vs. Chile lineups, team news, starting 11

Lionel Messi is not on the Argentina roster as he recovers from his ankle injury suffered in the Copa America final. Another regular withdrawn from the squad due to injury is Nicolas Tagliafico who was replaced on the roster by Marcos Acuna, and Leonardo Balerdi was called in but had to be replaced by Paulo Dybala after an injury.

Angel Di Maria retired from international duty after the Copa America, and goalkeeper Franco Armani did the same just days ago at 37 years old.

Argentina projected starting lineup (3-5-2): E. Martinez (GK) — Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Li. Martinez — De Paul, Mac Allister, E. Fernandez — Alvarez, La. Martinez, N. Gonzalez.

Argentina subs: Rulli (GK), Benitez (GK), Montiel, Pezzella, Acuna, G. Rodriguez, Paredes, Lo Celso, Castellanos, Dybala, Garnacho, Soule.

Experienced international Alexis Sanchez, now 35 years old, was not called up as Chile hope to move on from the aging forward. They have yet to do the same with 34-year-old Eduardo Vargas who remains in the squad for the time being.

Club America midfielder Diego Valdes was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury, as did Udinese youngster Damian Pizarro. His new club teammate, center-back Igor Lichnovsky, has torn his ACL and will be out for an extended period of time.

Two exciting youngsters, 21-year-old Colo Colo midfielder Vicente Pizarro (no relation to Damian) and 20-year-old former Colo Colo winger Dario Osorio were included in this roster.

Chile starting lineup (4-3-3): Arias (GK) — Isla, P. Diaz, Catalan, Galdames — M. Nunez, Echeverria, Loyola — Osorio, E. Vargas, Davila.

Chile subs: Vigouroux (GK), Cortes (GK), Alarcon, Baeza, Kuscevic, Maripan, Mena, Meneses, Palacios, Pavez, Pizarro, B. Diaz.

Argentina vs. Chile live stream, TV channel

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This match will be televised in the United States on Universo in Spanish only. That channel can be found on Fubo, who are offering a free seven day trial for new users. It can also be streamed in Spanish on ViX.

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