Before the match, Chilean Martin Rodriguez was honored for his 100th International Cap.

Play was animated in opening quarter but neither team managed to take an ascendant on the opposition, and no real goal scoring chances were manufactured. The Russians seemed less dominant than in their pool matches, possibly feeling the now intense afternoon Californian heat. They maintained their structure but the swift Chilean counter-attacks were sometimes creating havoc in their midfield and defense.

Igor Siniagin was taken down in the circle in the 21st minute and converted the penalty-stroke himself to finally open the scoring for Russia. Play was intense, but no further opportunities were created and the Russians walked into the half-time break with their meagre one-goal advantage and not looking especially confident.

Russia tried to speed up their ball circulation in second half to make the Chileans run but the South Americans were not overly bothered and managed to force a penalty-corner. They thought that they had scored but, after some confusion, the goal was denied. Alexis Berczely had another chance soon after following a quick pick-up close to the circle but his shot was high over Marat Gafarov in the Russian goal.

Chile came back level in the 40th minute by Nicolas Renz after a perfectly executed penalty-corner variation that fooled the Russian defense. However Russia rebuilt their lead with a few seconds left in third quarter after an individual exploit from Nikolay Komaro who, blocked in the corner of the circle, managed to squeeze between two defenders and lobbed Adrian Henriquez in the Chilean goal from an improbable angle.

There was the feeling that the match could still swing one way or the other and intensity increased a few notches in the final quarter, with a few cards distributed by the umpires. Chile tried and tried, and were rewarded with a goal by Martin Rodriguez with still three minutes left on the clock. Both teams played short on yellow cards in the final minutes and the deadlock could not be broken, so the result had to be decided, for the first time in this competition, with a series of shoot-outs!  

All Russian shooters managed to score but one Chilean failed and Russia squeezed through to the semi-finals, while the Chileans could be legitimately disappointed to have missed by so little what would have been a significant exploit.