History
Chile will be taking part in the World Cup finals for the eighth time at South Africa 2010. Their best performance to date came when they hosted the tournament in 1962 and finished third. Most recently, Chile were knocked out in the second round by Brazil at France 1998.

Qualification
Four matches into qualifying Chile were hammered at home by Paraguay and looked likely to be contesting the lower table places. Nine games later they were visiting Asuncion on 20 points, four behind group leaders Paraguay. Sporting Lisbon’s Matias Fernandez scored from the edge of the area and first choice striker Humberto Suazo headed the second to move Chile one point behind in third place. Chile had momentum and they finished strongly, winning six and drawing two of their last nine games and only losing away to Brazil thanks to a Nilmar hat-trick. That superb run included a 1-0 home win over Argentina, and their scintillating form moved them from 35 to 15th in the FIFA Rankings in the space of just 12 months.

Prospects
Chile are one of if not the in form team from South America. They have risen from 64th to 15th in the FIFA rankings since the last World Cup overtaking Uruguay, Paraguay and Ecuador on the way. The squad is an unlikely mixture, including a few players at top European clubs, such as Arturo Vidal and striker Alexis Sanchez, while the likes of Humberto Suazo and Gary Medal have quality that may surprise a few onlookers this summer. Chile may look like the also-rans in Group H, but they have a recent friendly record that includes wins over fellow finalists Paraguay, Slovakia and Denmark - the latter two in Europe - and play some of the best football around, so don’t be surprised if they make it further than expected.