Eduardo Jesús Vargas Rojas (; born 20 November 1989) is a Chilean professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División () is a professional association football league in Chile and the highest level of the Chilean football league system. Founded in 1933, it is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). The l ...

club

Audax Italiano Audax Club Sportivo Italiano () is a Chilean football club based in La Florida playing in the Campeonato Nacional, having has spent most of its history in the top tier of Chilean football. History The club was founded by Italian residents in S ...

. Emerging as a top talent at

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a professional Chilean football league system, Chilean football club based in Calama, Chile, Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. They compete in the Primera B de Ch ...

, Vargas moved to

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

where he won three titles, including the

2011 Copa Sudamericana The 2011 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2011 Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) was the 10th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized ...

, where he was named player of the tournament. In 2011, he was co-awarded the

Chilean Footballer of the Year Chilean Footballer of the Year is an award that the Circulo de Periodistas de Chile annually grants, to those Chilean soccer players who during the season of Primera División de Chile have obtained the greater number of points, in agreement with th ...

and also finished as runner-up for the

South American Footballer of the Year The Rey de América ("King of America"), often referred to as the South American Footballer of the Year, is an annual association football award presented to the best footballer in South America over the previous calendar year. The award was con ...

. Following an £11.5 million move to

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

, Vargas had subsequent loan spells at Grêmio,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

before moving to

TSG Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into being in their modern fo ...

in 2015. A full international since 2010, Vargas has earned 120 caps for Chile, scoring over 40 goals. He was part of their squad at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the tenth and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's Association football, football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, ...

, and the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. He would finish as top scorer in Chile's title-winning 2015 and 2016 Copa América campaigns.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, Vargas grew up in

Renca Renca is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on 6 May 1894. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Renca spans an area of and has 133,500 inha ...

, and began his career playing for Internacional de Renca's youth setup. He also had trials at Universidad Católica and

Palestino The term ''Palestino'' is the Spanish word for "Palestinian". The word "''Palestino''" is used in Cuba as a disparaging nickname for illegal migrants within the country. The nickname is used as a rhetorical device, that compares illegal migrants ...

before taking part of

Deportes Puerto Montt Club Deportes Puerto Montt is a Chilean football club based in the city of Puerto Montt, Los Lagos Region. The club was founded on May 6, 1983, and currently plays in the Primera B de Chile, the second division of the country. Their home games ar ...

's youth categories. In 2005, he was invited to a reality show headed by

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

, called ''Adidas Selection Team'', and despite not winning the competition, he impressed enough to start the 2006 pre-season trialling with

Puerto Rico Islanders The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...

, as the club was in Chile.

Cobreloa

In 2006, Vargas was signed by

after impressing in a ten-day trial. Initially assigned to the B-team in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

, he scored twice during his stay, netting against

Universidad Arturo Prat Universidad Arturo Prat is a university in Chile. It is a derivative university part of the Chilean Traditional Universities. The university was created in 1981 from the former campus of the University of Chile in Iquique. It also has campuses i ...

and

San Marcos de Arica Club Deportivo San Marcos de Arica, also known as San Marcos, is a Chilean professional football club based in Arica, that is a current member of the Primera B of Chile. The club was founded on February 14, 1978. Between 1978 and 2005, the club ...

in August. Vargas made his first team debut on 23 July 2006, aged just 16, playing the last 20 minutes in a 4–1 away loss against Puerto Montt. He appeared in three more matches during the season, all from the bench. After only five further appearances in 2007, he became a regular starter in 2008, scoring his first professional goal on 16 March in a 3–2 home defeat of

. On 30 August, he scored a brace in a 4–3 away win against the same opponent. Vargas established himself as a starter in 2009, contributing with four goals in 23 appearances.

Universidad de Chile

On 7 January 2010, Vargas joined

for a

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

700,000 transfer fee. He made his debut for the club on 25 January, replacing Gabriel Vargas and scoring the last in a 5–1 home routing of

Cobresal Club de Deportes Cobresal, or simply Cobresal, is a Chilean football club based in El Salvador, Atacama, a Chilean mining camp, and participates in Campeonato Nacional. The team was founded on 5 May 1979, and the name of the club comes from the ...

. Vargas only broke into the first team during the 2011 campaign, and had a brilliant performance during the year, scoring 29 goals and providing in 51 matches. He also won both league semestral tournaments ( Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura), as well as the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

, where he was the edition's top-scorer and netted goals in both final legs against

LDU Quito Liga Deportiva Universitaria () is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their home games at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgad ...

, scoring the only goal at Casa Blanca and twice in the 3–0 win at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago. Vargas was chosen as a candidate for

in November 2011, eventually placing as runner-up to

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

. Then in December, Vargas was con-decorated as the

Napoli

In December 2011, Italian club

purchased the player for a reported US$17.9 million ( £11.5 million). On 23 December 2011, Napoli club president

Aurelio De Laurentiis Aurelio De Laurentiis (born 24 May 1949) is an Italian film producer. He owns the film production company Filmauro and the Italian football club Napoli (of which he is also chairman). He is the nephew of film producer Dino De Laurentiis and ...

, announced Vargas would arrive at the club: "I would like to inform you officially that we purchased Vargas, a few minutes ago I received a call from Dr. De Nicola, who visited the footballer and gave his okay under medical and athletic profile. We signed the contract and we also won the competition by strong Club who wanted the player. This is the testimony that our observatory is always open and we are continuously looking for young talents in the world that can make the case of Napoli and for the growth of our team." Vargas arrived at Napoli on 6 January 2012 and signed on 9 January. He made his debut in a 2–1

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

defeat of

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

at the

Stadio San Paolo Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, formerly known as Stadio San Paolo, is an all-seater football stadium in Naples, Italy. Completed in 1959, it is the fourth largest football stadium in Italy after Milan's San Siro, Rome's Stadio Olimpico and ...

on 12 January. On 20 May, he was an unused substitute as Napoli defeated

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in the Coppa Italia Final at the

Stadio Olimpico Stadio Olimpico (; ), colloquially known as l'Olimpico (The Olympic), is an Italian multi-purpose sports venue located in Rome. Seating over 70,000 spectators, it is the largest sports facility in Rome and the second-largest in Italy, after ...

. On 20 September 2012, in the first match of Napoli's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

campaign, Vargas scored his first Napoli goals, netting three in a 4–0 victory against AIK. This was the first time that a Chilean player had scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a continental competition in Europe.

Grêmio (loan)

On 17 January 2013, Vargas agreed to go on loan to Brazilian side Grêmio. He made his first appearance six days later in a

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

match against LDU Quito. He scored his first goal on 21 February against

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

in the Copa Libertadores. On 31 March, he scored his first goal in the

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

, converting a penalty at the

Arena do Grêmio Arena do Grêmio is a multi-use stadium in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. It was inaugurated on December 8, 2012. It is used mostly for football matches and as the home stadium of Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, replacing the Estádio Ol� ...

in a 1–1 draw with

Passo Fundo Passo Fundo is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is named after its river. It's the tenth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 204,722 inhabitants ...

Valencia (loan)

On 23 January 2014, Vargas joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

on loan for the rest of the 2013–14 season. Vargas played his first official match for ''Los Che'' in a 3–2 away win at

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

against champions

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

on 1 February 2014. He scored his first La Liga goal against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

, in a 5–0 home win. Vargas recorded two goals and three assists in eight appearances as Valencia reached the semi-finals of the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The final was played between Sevilla and Benfica at the Juventus Stadium in Tu ...

Queens Park Rangers (loan)

On 21 August 2014, Vargas joined

on loan until the end of the 2014–15

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

season. He made his debut for the club on 14 September against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, replacing

Charlie Austin Charles Austin (born 5 July 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Southern League Premier Division South club AFC Totton. Released from his contract by Reading as a youth, Austin played non-league football u ...

for the last 31 minutes at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. On 19 October, in a 2–3 loss against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Loftus Road Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...

, Vargas scored twice after coming on as a substitute for

Bobby Zamora Robert Lester Zamora (born 16 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. Zamora began his career at Barking Abbey School. Then he moved to Football League club Bristol Rovers, but was soon signed by Brig ...

in the 78th minute. On 26 December, in a 2–1 loss to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Vargas helped his goalkeeper

Robert Green Robert Paul Green (born 18 January 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played in the Premier League and Football League and for the England national team. Green made his first-team debut for Norwi ...

save an early penalty from

Alexis Sánchez Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez (; born 19 December 1988), also known mononymously as Alexis, is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Udinese and the Chile national team. He is often regarded as the ...

by pointing out which way his fellow Chilean was likely to shoot the ball. On 22 March 2015, Vargas scored his first goal in five months in QPR's 1–2 home defeat to Everton. He also scored in the team's 4–1 victory at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

on 4 April, but injured his knee ligament in that match, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. The season ended with QPR finishing bottom of the league, resulting in their relegation to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Hoffenheim

On 24 August 2015, Vargas joined German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into being in their modern for ...

on a four-year deal, for a reported fee of €5 million, plus an additional percentage of any sell-on fee.

Tigres UANL

On 27 January 2017,

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

club

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

announced Vargas would be joining the club. On 16 July 2017, he scored in the 1–0 victory over

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

in the

2017 Campeón de Campeones The 2017 Campeón de Campeones was the 45th edition of the Campeón de Campeones, an annual football super cup match, and the 44th held in the professional era of Mexican football. It was played on 16 July 2017 between Apertura 2016 winners Tigr ...

. Vargas played the final against Tigres' archrival:

CF Monterrey Club de Fútbol Monterrey Rayados, A.C., simply known as Monterrey or by its nickname Rayados, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León, that plays in Liga MX, the top d ...

. In the first leg the teams drew 1–1 at the Estadio Universitario. In the

Estadio BBVA Bancomer Estadio BBVA, formerly known as the Estadio BBVA Bancomer, is an association football stadium in Guadalupe, Greater Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Nicknamed "El Gigante de Acero" in Spanish (), the stadium replaced the Estadio Tecnológico as th ...

, Tigres beat Monterrey 2–1. Vargas and Francisco Meza scored.

Atlético Mineiro

On 9 November 2020, Vargas joined

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

on a two-year contract.

Nacional

In January 2025, Vargas moved to Uruguay and signed with

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

. He ended his contract on 24 July 2025.

Audax Italiano

The same day Nacional announced his release, Vargas signed with

until the end of the year.

International career

In 2009, Vargas participated in the

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

with the Chile under-23 national team, where he was champion and the team's second top goalscorer. On 5 November 2009, he made his full international debut for the senior team in a 2–1 win over

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

at the

Estadio CAP Estadio Huachipato-CAP Acero (''Compañía de Acero del Pacífico''), known until 2015 as Estadio CAP, is a football stadium located in Talcahuano, Chile. Inaugurated in 2009, it is the home field of C.D. Huachipato, Huachipato, replacing Estadio ...

. In 2011, Vargas was recalled and scored his first goal in a 3–2 friendly defeat to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on 2 September. On 12 October, he scored his first competitive international goal in a 4–2 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

at the Estadio Monumental. In September 2013, Vargas broke the Chile national team record for goals in consecutive matches – previously held jointly by

Marcelo Salas José Marcelo Salas Melinao (; born 24 December 1974), nicknamed ''Bullfighter, Matador'' (due to his Goal celebration, goalscoring celebrations), ''El Fenómeno'' and ''Shileno'', is a Chilean former association football, footballer who play ...

and

Carlos Caszely Carlos Humberto Caszely Garrido (born 5 July 1950 in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean former footballer, nicknamed "Rey del metro cuadrado" (, ), who played as a forward. Regarded as one of Chile's most important players, between 1969 and 1985, ...

– by scoring twice in a 2–2 friendly draw with Spain. During 2013, he scored in six consecutive matches and nine times overall for ''La Roja''.

2014 World Cup

On 1 June 2014, Vargas was named by

Jorge Sampaoli Jorge Luis Sampaoli Moya (; born 13 March 1960) is an Argentine football coach. Sampaoli started out as a youth player and eventually switched to management after a severe injury. Sampaoli started with an impressive coaching run at Coronel Bol ...

in Chile's 23-man squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Brazil. In Chile's second group match, against defending champions Spain at the

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium (, ; named after the Maracanã River), officially known as Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium (, ; , named after Mário Filho), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighbor ...

, Vargas scored the team's opening goal as they mathematically eliminated Spain and secured qualification to the

knockout stage A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

2015 Copa América

On 11 June 2015, Vargas scored for Chile in the opening match of the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

, a 2–0 win over

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago. In the team's next fixture, Vargas scored his second goal of the tournament, heading an equalizer as the hosts drew 3–3 with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

on 15 June. In the semi-final against Peru, Vargas scored both goals in a 2–1 victory for Chile, the second of which was a long-distance effort, to send ''La Roja'' to the final. Although Vargas was substituted out in extra time, Chile won in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

to win their first major international honour. Vargas' four goals made him the competition's joint top scorer alongside Peruvian

Paolo Guerrero José Paolo Guerrero González (; born 1 January 1984) is a Peruvian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for Peruvian Primera División club Club Alianza Lima, Alianza Li ...

, and he was named in the Team of the Tournament.

Copa América Centenario

On 14 June 2016, at the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

, Vargas and Alexis Sánchez scored twice each in a 4–2 win over

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament. Four days later, he added four more goals at

Levi's Stadium Levi's Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, United States, just west of the much larger city of San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has served as the home venue for the National Football League (N ...

in a 7–0 rout of Mexico. Chile retained their title with another win on penalties against Argentina, and Vargas was again the top scorer with six goals. Despite his previous successes with the national team, Vargas, along with

Marcelo Díaz Marcelo Alfonso Díaz Rojas (; born 30 December 1986) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Chilean Primera División side Universidad de Chile. Díaz came through Universidad de Chile youth academy, and wa ...

, fell out of favour following the appointment of

Reinaldo Rueda Reinaldo Rueda Rivera (born 16 April 1957) is a Colombian football coach who currently serves as a manager for the Honduras national team. When he was the coach of the Colombia U-20 team, they finished 3rd at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Cham ...

in 2018 and made only a single friendly appearance for Chile in the year.

2019 Copa América

Vargas was included in Chile's 23-man squad for the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 Ju ...

in Brazil. He scored twice against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in a 4–0 win for Chile's opening match.

2021 Copa América

Vargas scored two goals in the

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football, football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to ...

, one each against Argentina and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, which both ended in a 1–1 draw. On 2 July 2021, Vargas played his 100th match for Chile in a 1–0 defeat against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in the quarter-finals.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Score and result columns lists Chile's goal tally first.''

Honours

Universidad de Chile *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

: 2011 Apertura, 2011 Clausura *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Napoli *

: 2011–12 Tigres UANL *

: Apertura 2017, Clausura 2019 *

Campeón de Campeones Campeón de Campeones () is an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic super cup between the Liga MX champions of the ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments. It was initially a super cup match between the league and cup cha ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

Atlético Mineiro *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Supercopa do Brasil The Supercopa do Brasil (), also known as Supercopa Rei (), is a Brazilian association football trophy organized by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). It is contested between the champions of the Campeonato Brasileiro and the winners of ...

Chile U20 *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Chile *

China Cup The China Cup International Football Championship () is an annual association football tournament organized in China by Wanda Sports Holdings. The Championship was inaugurated in 2017 as a single-elimination tournament A single-elimination kn ...

Individual *Copa Sudamericana Player of the Tournament:

* Copa Sudamericana Top Scorer: 2011 *Primera División de Chile Player of the Tournament:

*Primera División de Chile Best Forward: 2011 *CONMEBOL Team of the Season: 2011 * Copa América Team of the Tournament:

* Copa América Top Scorer:

* China Cup Best Player:

Notes

References

External links

Club career

Early career

Cobreloa

Universidad de Chile

Napoli

Grêmio (loan)

Valencia (loan)

Queens Park Rangers (loan)

Hoffenheim

Tigres UANL

Atlético Mineiro

Nacional

Audax Italiano

International career

2014 World Cup

2015 Copa América

Copa América Centenario

2019 Copa América

2021 Copa América

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Notes

See also

References

External links