Arturo Vidal and Eduardo Vargas are in the running, but Alexis Sanchez remains far from being considered the team’s most efficient shooter by everyone.
With a pair of goals in the latest qualifying matches against Peru for the third round en route to the World Cup in Qatar, and another strike against Venezuela in Caracas, Arturo Vidal has reached a milestone of 32 goals in plea for the national jersey. The Inter Milan midfielder surpassed Carlos Caszely in the fifth penalty area (29 goals in 48 appearances) and sits two goals behind Iván Zamorano in the all-time rankings. One of Bam-Bam’s goals came in the 2-2 draw between Chile and Qatar.
It should be noted that the San Joaquín-born star has registered seven multiple-goal outings with the national team, including tallies against Mexico (2015 Copa América), Venezuela (2016 Qualifiers), Bolivia (2016 Copa América), Peru (2016 Qualifiers), Burkina Faso (2016 Qualifiers), and again with the Peru national team (qualifiers 2022).
The record, however, is still led by Alexis Sanchez, who has worn the La Roja shirt for fifteen years and continues to add to his tally: he has reached 52 goals. The Inter Milan forward scored the first goal in the Centenary Qualifier against Uruguay, then added a vital brace in the 3-2 win away against Bolivia, continued his run with the late winner against Argentina in Asunción, and produced another important contribution by scoring twice in the 3-2 home victory against Bolivia. He also opened the scoring in the friendly against Qatar in September 2022 in Vienna and struck again in the first friendly of 2023 against Paraguay at the Monumental, which marked a milestone win in Eduardo Berizzo’s tenure when he netted in the 2-2 and 3-2 results that, in the eyes of some observers, appeared as own goals but were credited to him after a ruling by Flavio Souza following a corner—an Olympic moment in Chilean football history.
In the second line, Eduardo Vargas has tallied 40 goals. Vargas sits behind a long tradition of Chilean scorers, with Marcelo Salas holding a place of honor with 37 goals in 70 appearances, and Ivan Zamorano close behind with 34 goals in 69 appearances for La Roja who have represented the nation with pride for decades.
Who has played the most for Chile?
THE RANKING OF CHILE’S HISTORICAL SCORERS
Source: Goal