The Chilean national football team represents Chile in all major international football competitions. The team is controlled by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile which was established in 1895. They have appeared in seven World Cup tournaments and were hosts of the 1962 FIFA World Cup finishing in third place. It has been commonly known as 'La Roja' since the early 1980's. Chile finished with a record of 4 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses in the matches played in 2006.

It all started with the friendlies preparing teams for the 2006 World Cup. The tour included many of the players who started in Copa America 2007 as well as the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers. They beat the Republic of Ireland 1-0 in Dublin, drew with the Cote d'Ivoire 1-1 in Paris, France and drew with Sweden 1-1 in the Råsunda Stadium Stockholm. Chile lost to Colombia 2-1 in Santiago de Chile but beat Peru twice, 3-2 in a home game in Viña del Mar and 1-0 in an away game in Tacna, Peru, a few days later. The team then beat Paraguay 3-2 in Viña del Mar, Chile. The year ended with a 1-0 loss to Aragón in Zaragoza, Spain with Elías Figueroa as a guest coach and a "B" team. In 2007 in February, they earned a 1-0 victory over Venezuela, but in March, in the return to Sweden (this time in Gothenburg), the team lost against Brazil 4-0. The next week,in Talca, the team drew 1-1 against Costa Rica. Chile then drew 0-0 against Argentina, in Mendoza, Argentina. On 11 July 2007, the Chilean Football Federation banned six of the national team players, because of "internal indiscipline" during the Copa America tournament, for 20 international matches each and none of the players will ever be allowed to captain the national team. The players banned were captain Jorge Valdivia, defenders Álvaro Ormeño, Rodrigo Tello, Jorge Vargas and Pablo Contreras and striker Reinaldo Navia.[19] Nelson Acosta's resignation as manager came after Chile were knocked out of the 2007 Copa America. Chile had qualified to the quarter-finals after a win against Ecuador 3-2, and a draw against Mexico 0-0. But, two losses against Brazil sealed Acosta's fate. Former Argentina manager Marcelo Bielsa was given the task of becoming the current Chile national team manager in preparation for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.[20] In 16 October 2008, Chile beat Argentina 1-0 for the first time in a qualifying competition, making history. Marcelo Bielsa was acclaimed for this accomplishment by both Chilean and Argentinian people, this match was seen as one of the reasons that ended in the resignation of Alfio Basile from the Argentinian bench..