Chile - Team Fact Sheet

The 10 Tastiest Facts to know about Chile's Football Team

When you think of Chile, you think of a long thin country, a dictator named Pinochet, the Andes Mountains, and (for silly reasons) chilli, the food. We get hungry just thinking about it! But with its rather ominous state motto "By reason or by force", you don't want to mess with Chileans. Better respect 'em. The same goes for their ascendant football team.

With an impressive qualifying run to the World Cup, this Spanish-speaking nation of 17 million has produced a quality side that looks poised to do South America proud. They've got some heavyweight competition coming with them, but we think they're gonna handle themselves pretty well: by reason or by force.

Here's the top 10 facts you need to know about the Chilean football team:

10. The Chilean team's nickname is La Roja (The Red One) because of their red home uniforms.

9. Chile plays its qualifying matches at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago. After a military coup in 1973, it was used as a prison camp for political opponents for some months. Must be a little awkward watching games at the stadium for some people.

8. Chile played in the inaugural World Cup in 1930. They beat Mexico and France, but then lost to Argentina, ending their hopes of advancing. (Payback time!)

7. Chile's coach is Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, nicknamed El Loco Bielsa (The Madman Bielsa). He's fanatical about football and will speak about it for hours with anyone who asks. He's brought an attacking style of play to Chile, with powerful results. They qualified one point behind Brazil, but with more wins. A team to watch.

6. Chile has never won a continental cup, though they've been runners-up 4 times at the Copa America. Not good enough, though. C'mon Chile!

5. Marcelo Salas is Chile's top scorer with 37 goals. Nicknamed El Matador (The Killer), he played for La Roja from 1994-2007.

4. Leonel Sánchez has the most caps for Chile with 84. He achieved this from 1955-1968. A septuagenarian today, people still idolize him in Chile.

3. FIFA ranked Chile 17th before the 2010 World Cup, just behind Cote d'Ivoire. They've been ranked as high as 6th back in 1998, but with "Madman Bielsa" at the helm, things are looking up.

2. Chile's biggest win was a 7-0 thrashing of Armenia in 1997. We bet they wish Armenia was in the World Cup too!

1. Chile's making its 8th appearance at the World Cup. Their best result was third place back in 1962. It will be tough to top that this year, with all the great competition they'll face. But a good draw could open things right up.