We investigate the principal chiral model between two and four dimensions by means of a non perturbative Wilson-like renormalization group equation. We are thus able to follow the evolution of the effective coupling constants within this whole range of dimensions without having recourse to any kind of small parameter expansion. This allows us to identify its three dimensional critical physics and to solve the long-standing discrepancy between the different perturbative approaches that characterizes the class of models to which the principal chiral model belongs.