Chile's football teams chase gold at 2026 Odesur Games

Chile's women's and men's football teams are both in medal contention at the 2026 Odesur Games in Santa Fe, with the women's side already through to the gold medal match and the men's team set for a semifinal. The women's team, coached by Luis Mena, secured their place in the final with a perfect group stage record, including a 3-2 win over Paraguay Source: emolcl. They will face Venezuela on Wednesday at 15:00 local time, a team they previously beat 3-0 in the group stage Source: emolcl.

The men's team initially appeared set to face Argentina in the semifinals, but a correction by the official Odesur website changed their opponent to Paraguay Source: El Mercurio (Emol). The confusion arose because Chile and Peru finished level on six points in Group A. Although Chile had a superior goal difference (+2 vs +1), the tournament's tiebreaker was the head-to-head result, which Peru won 2-0, giving them first place Source: El Mercurio (Emol). As a result, Chile now plays Paraguay, while Argentina faces Peru in the other semifinal Source: El Mercurio (Emol).

Chile has never won gold in both men's and women's football at the same Odesur edition. The country's only previous gold came in men's football at Cochabamba 2018, when they beat Uruguay 1-0 in extra time Source: emolcl. Both Chilean teams play their matches on Wednesday, September 23, with the men's semifinal at 10:00 and the women's final at 15:00 Source: emolcl.