Nov 30

Chile retain UFWC and Copa titles as Argentina pay penalty

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Argentina 0-0 Chile (Chile win 4-2 on penalties)

26 June 2016 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Copa America Centenario Final History repeated itself as Chile beat Argentina on penalties to win the Copa America for the second year running. Once again the UFWC title was in play in the Copa final. Most headlines will focus on Argentina's Lionel Messi, who missed a penalty and subsequently announced his retirement from international football. But for the UFWC the story is all about Chile who remain Unofficial Football World Champions. The final was a bad tempered affair, with Chile's Marcelo Diaz and Argentina's Marcus Rojo both sent off before half time. Despite the extra space afforded by the dismissals, neither side was able to recapture the goal scoring form that had taken them to the final. The penalty shoot out began with two misses. First Arturo Vidal saw his shot saved by Sergio Romero, and then Messi blasted high over the bar. Both Vidal and Messi had been excellent through the the tournament. Argentina's Lucas Biglia also missed, his shot saved by Claudio Bravo. Then Francisco Silva scored the decisive kick to give Chile a 4-2 shoot out win in this special edition Copa America Centenario - making them official champions of the whole of the Americas, and unofficial champions of the world. Next up for Chile are a pair of World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Bolivia on 1 and 6 September respectively, and the first of those matches will be the next UFWC title match. If you're new to the Unofficial Football World Championships you can find out all about the UFWC here. And you can keep up to date with all things UFWC by following us on Twitter or Facebook.