User:Grizzly2024/Football in Chile

Football In Chile
Football was so important in Chile because it was a sport that brought together people of all different political and social classes. The country's history of association football began with English sailors and their boat trips due to various commercial links between Chile and Great Britain in the 19th century.

Origin
Football was first brought to Chile by the English that exhibited the sport during visits to the commercial ports such as in Valparaiso. Chileans living in the area would watch how the sport was being played. In 1880 Chilean aristocratic families incorporated the sport into their regular rituals which brought the first games in Chilean football.

Chile's football clubs were made up of thousands of members. The popularity it gained even resulted in a new magazine being created, called Los Sports. This new sports magazine allowed for fans to have access to information about their favorite players and gave them access updates about games.

Popularity was also brought to the game with the voices of famous announcers like Joaquín Carballo. Before being televised, football in Chile had to be broadcasted over radio networks and through articles in the paper. This allowed for the game to spread to a multitude of people, not just those able to afford tickets to games. Announcers like Carballo were very significant if growing the game because it also allowed for the game to be grown all across the world.

Chile is also one of the only one of two national teams in South America to have reached the final of any major FIFA men's senior competitions other than Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, having finished runners-up in 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, the other being Venezuela after reaching the final of 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup held earlier.

Currently
Currently, Chilean football remains a strong force in Latin America. Colo-Colo has been the only Chilean club to win a Copa Libertadores championship: the 1991 Copa Libertadores. Also won the Copa Interamericana 1991 and the 1992 Recopa Sudamericana. Other clubs such as Cobreloa, Unión Española and Universidad Católica have played finals finishing in 2nd place. And Universidad de Chile has been the only Chilean club to win a Copa Sudamericana championship.

On women's football, Chile even earns a greater reputation. The sport truly came to life for women in South America in the year 1991 when they got to compete in the Inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup in China. Colo-Colo was the first non-Brazilian champion in Copa Libertadores Femenina, having done so in 2012 edition, and has since remained a strong force of women's football in South America.

The Chile national team represents Chile at all international football competitions. The team is controlled by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile which was established in 1895. They won Copa América in 2015 and 2016. They have also appeared in 9 FIFA World Cup tournaments and were hosts of the 1962 FIFA World Cup finishing in 3rd place. Chile achieved their highest ever ranking in FIFA, standing third, between April and May 2016.

A women's team, an under-20 team, and an under-17 team also compete. The Chilean women team qualified for their first ever 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Chile under-17 football team has written history by becoming the first national team of Chile to play in three consecutive FIFA World Cup, having qualified to the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup after hosting the 2015 and qualified to the 2017 editions.