Canada book place in Copa quarters

GREGG NEWTON/ AFP

Canada played out a dour goalless Copa America draw with 10-man Chile on Saturday to claim second place in Group A and progress to the quarter-finals, while the Chileans finished third to exit in the group stage for the first time since 2004.

The draw moved Copa America debutants Canada up to four points in Group A, five behind leaders Argentina, who had already qualified for the quarter-finals.

Two-times champions Chile ended with two points and Peru finished bottom with one after losing 2-0 to Argentina in Saturday's other match.

Chile exited the tournament without a single goal to their name, prolonging a scoring drought in which they have netted only three goals in their first six 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Needing to win and have other results go their way, Chile had their uphill task made even harder after Gabriel Suazo was shown a second yellow card in the 27th minute for bringing down Richie Laryea.

The red card was protested angrily by Chile's players, who criticised the refereeing after the match.

Chile also felt aggrieved after Canada defender Moise Bombito appeared to elbow Rodrigo Echeverria in the fifth minute of the match but VAR did not review the incident.

Captain Claudio Bravo, sidelined through injury, shared a video of the incident on X, saying: "It is unbelievable that with the technology that exists today in soccer, they can screw you over in this way.

"It is very hard to understand, it is impossible to compete against this. We leave with our heads held high, we gave everything!"

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