Jorge Sampaoli’s tenure as Chile’s national team coach ended on Tuesday after he agreed a deal with the country’s National Professional Football Association (ANFP) allowing him to cut short his contract, which would have kept him in the job until 2018.
Appointed in December 2012, the Argentinian coach led La Roja to the Round of 16 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ before going on to mastermind their 2015 Copa America triumph, Chile’s first major tournament win, which also earned them a place at the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017.
Sampaoli was nominated for the FIFA Men’s Football Coach of the Year award at last week’s FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala in Zurich, an event he attended.
In announcing the termination of the agreement in a statement posted on its website, the ANFP said: “With this step the board has resolved the current situation affecting the national team, avoiding the uncertainty that comes with potentially lengthy legal actions.”

The statement added: “ANFP President, Arturo Salah, has said that with this agreement the board is now free to begin looking for a new coaching team: ‘We will now devote our energies to our priority, which is to do all we can to ensure Chile qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia’.”