Marcelo Bielsa will end his three-year run as Chile coach in Wednesday's friendly against South American neighbor Uruguay.
The popular Argentine announced his resignation weeks ago in a disagreement with Spanish businessman Jorge Segovia, who was elected this month as the president of the country's football federation. Bielsa had supported the incumbent Harold Mayne-Nicholls.
Bielsa said before the election that he would step down if the Spaniard were elected, and he followed through. Chile has yet to announce a new coach in a controversy that has also implicated Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.
"The idea is not to go backward, but it will be difficult to replace Bielsa," Chile defender Gonzalo Jara said. "There are few like him."
Midfielder Mauricio Isla added: "It hurts to lose a great coach. It's tough to say goodbye, particularly when he had done things well."
For guiding Chile to its first World Cup in 12 years and reaching the last 16 in South Africa, Bielsa received a new contract to 2015.
Bielsa, who coached Argentina at the 2002 World Cup, is seen as a temperamental innovator, a tactician who studies videos and paces on the sidelines with a feverish intensity. In Spanish he is known simply as "el loco" - "the crazy one."
Some fans attending the match in Santiago are expected to protest Bielsa's resignation, blaming Segovia and expressing their displeasure by wearing black T-shirts.
Pinera has been said to be part of a campaign to remove Mayne-Nicholls. Pinera is a minority stockholder in the large Chilean club Colo Colo and news reports in Chile have said Pinera did not get along with Bielsa.
Mayne-Nicholls hired Bielsa, and former Chile President Michelle Bachelet was also a strong supporter.
The high-profile match in Chile is one of several friendlies on Wednesday featuring Latin American teams. In the most important, Argentina faces Brazil in Doha, Qatar, Colombia is home to Peru, and Ecuador hosts Venezuela.
