Preview: Venezuela vs. Chile - prediction, team news, lineups

Venezuela claimed a hugely impressive draw away to Brazil last week, while Chile defeated Peru to secure their first victory of the campaign.

Match preview

Having never qualified for a World Cup in their entire history, Venezuela will be hoping that record changes for the 2026 tournament, which will be hosted across United States, Canada and Mexico in North America.

The competition will expand from 32 to 48 teams, meaning that CONMEBOL will have additional teams qualify for it, with six direct spots available. The seventh-placed side in South America's qualifying campaign will also go through to an inter-continental play-off tie.

However, with Bolivia being the only South American nation ranked below Venezuela in FIFA's World Rankings, Fernando Batista's side remain up against it despite the increase in spots. That said, they sit in sixth position after four games, suggesting they have every chance of upsetting the apple cart this time around.

The Wine-Red displayed their undoubted improvement when Eduard Bello struck with only five minutes of normal time to claim a remarkable draw against Brazil at Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba, meaning Batista has only lost one of his six games in charge since replacing his compatriot Jose Pekerman in March.

Venezuela have actually won all three of their home games under Batista by the same scoreline of 1-0 - including against Paraguay in qualifying last month - so they will be unusually confident of continuing their momentum against Chile on Tuesday.

However, after missing out on qualifying for each of the past two World Cup's, Chile will be doubly determined to make amends under Eduardo Berizzo's management.

The former Paraguay boss has made a mixed start to life as Chile boss since taking over in June 2022, with his side's 2-0 win against Peru on Friday only his fourth victory in 14 games overall. With the scoreline goalless at Estadio Monumental David Arellano in Macul, Diego Valdes finally broke the deadlock in the 74th minute, before Marcos Lopez's own goal sealed the hosts' win.

La Roja clearly do not possess the same calibre of individual talent as the teams which reached the round-of-16 stage at back-to-back World Cup's in 2010 and 2014, with the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Gary Medel and Charles Aranguiz all entering the twilight zone of their illustrious careers.

That said, they should still have more than enough about them to finish in the top six or seven positions of qualifying as a worst case scenario, making their trip to Venezuela an incredibly important one as they look to rebuild momentum under Berizzo.

Venezuela World Cup Qualifying - South America form:

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W

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Venezuela form (all competitions):

D

W

W

L

W

D

Chile World Cup Qualifying - South America form:

L

D

W

Chile form (all competitions):

W

W

D

L

D

W

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Team News

Providing that Batista has no concerns regarding any of his players' fitness and ability to recover in time, he may be tempted to name the same team which incredibly avoided defeat away to Brazil last time out, with Bello having to provide an impact from the bench once again.

As such, vice-captain Salomon Rondon - who is currently playing for River Plate in Argentina domestically - would earn his 100th cap for his country, as he looks to extend his record tally of 40 goals for them.

Chile, meanwhile, saw Aranguiz join their own 100-capped club against Peru on Friday, but the Internacional midfielder is likely to have to settle for appearing from the bench as was the case during that victory.

Norwich City midfielder Marcelino Nunez will be hoping for a start in order to provide more creativity from that area of the pitch, but like his forthcoming counterpart, Berizzo may name an unchanged starting XI having finally returned to winning ways.

Venezuela possible starting lineup:

Romo; Gonzalez, Osorio, Angel, Makoun; Machis, Herrera, Rincon, Sosa; Cordova, Rondon

Chile possible starting lineup:

Cortes; Catalan, Medel, Maripan, Suazo; Mendez, Pulgar; Echeverria, Valdes, Brereton; Sanchez

We say: Venezuela 1-0 Chile

Venezuela will have taken significant confidence from their draw against Brazil, and we can envisage them recording a fourth successive 1-0 win on home soil on Tuesday.

Chile are still flattering to deceive under Berizza's management, with their ageing side feeling somewhat stale, and they have it all to do to prove they are capable of avoiding missing out on qualifying for the World Cup for the third successive campaign.

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