Bolivia national football team

History

Bolivia debuted in international football in 1926, one year after the Bolivian Football Federation was founded, and joined FIFA that same year. As participants at the 1926 South American Championship in Chile, Bolivia played their first match against the hosts on 12 October 1926, and even ended up scoring first against them, but wound up being defeated by the Chileans 7–1. Bolivia also lost their following three matches: 0–5 against Argentina, 1–6 against Paraguay and 0–6 against Uruguay.

In 1930, Bolivia was one of the teams invited to the inaugural edition of the World Cup, held in Uruguay. Drawn in Group 2 of the 1930 World Cup, Bolivia lost both its games 4–0, first to Yugoslavia at the Estadio Parque Central, and then to Brazil in the Estadio Centenario. The match versus the Yugoslavs would be the last match against non-South American opposition for Bolivia until 1972 – when they again met Yugoslavia. They returned for the 1950 World Cup, where Argentina's withdrawal from the qualifiers gave Bolivia an automatic berth. With three teams declining to play in Brazil, Bolivia was put in a group of two along with Uruguay. The Bolivians' only game was an 8–0 defeat to Uruguay at the Estádio Independência in Belo Horizonte.

Bolivia's greatest football achievement was the 1963 South American Championship title, which they hosted and won after placing first out of 7 countries, including being undefeated, with five wins and one draw. The only draw for Bolivia in the tournament was a 4–4 draw against Ecuador in the opening match. They also had the advantage of being better accustomed to higher altitudes. In the following edition, the 1967 South American Championship, held in Uruguay, Bolivia finished last out of six teams, with one draw and four losses, which was far below what the public expected, as Bolivia had been the defending champion.

Afterwards, the country only started to resurge at an international level with the creation of the Academia Tahuichi Aguilera in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in 1978, a football school that developed players such as Marco Etcheverry, Erwin Sánchez and Luis Cristaldo.

Under Spanish coach Xabier Azkargorta and featuring nine players from Tahuichi, Bolivia surprisingly became the first team to beat Brazil in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers while playing them in La Paz, with a 2–0 win, and qualified for the 1994 World Cup by finishing second in Group B behind the Brazilians themselves, which included record 7–0 and 7–1 wins over Venezuela during their qualification campaign.

Bolivia was drawn into the tournament's Group C, and played defending champions Germany in the tournament's opening match at Soldier Field. Bolivia outplayed Germany in the first half. In the second half, Lothar Matthäus took a 40-yard run and struck Marco "El Diablo" Etcheverry with a high elbow to his jaw. Etcheverry retaliated by fouling Matthäus and was sent off. Eventually, Bolivia lost on a controversial offside goal by Jürgen Klinsmann. Following a goalless draw with South Korea at Foxboro Stadium, where Bolivia was forced to play with ten men again after Cristaldo's red card, Bolivia returned to Chicago and lost 3–1 to Spain, with Sánchez scoring the first ever Bolivian goal in a World Cup.

Following the World Cup, Bolivia participated in the 1995 Copa América held in Uruguay, with Antonio Lopez Habas as manager, where they made the quarter-finals for the first time since winning the competition in 1963, with one win, one draw, and one loss. In the quarter-finals, the nation lost to hosts Uruguay 2–1. Despite the decent performance the team displayed during the tournament, Lopez Habas left his post shortly before the 1997 Copa America, being replaced by Dušan Drašković. The 1997 edition was the second time Bolivia held the tournament. The team reached the final, as had happened last time Bolivia was the host, but this time they finished runner-up to reigning world champion Brazil after losing 3–1 in the final.

With their runner-up finish at the previous Copa America, Bolivia made their first and only FIFA Confederations Cup appearance in the 1999 edition, this time under new Argentine manager Héctor Veira. Bolivia was placed in group A along with hosts Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Their campaign started with a 2–2 draw against Egypt. Their next match was a 0–0 draw against Saudi Arabia. For their last match in the group, they had to play hosts Mexico, in which Bolivia lost 0–1 with a goal from Francisco Palencia. Bolivia finished third in the group with two draws and a loss, being eliminated from the tournament in the first stage.

In the 2015 Copa América in Chile, under Bolivian manager Mauricio Soria, Bolivia were placed in Group A, with Chile, Mexico, and Ecuador. In their match against Mexico, Bolivia drew 0–0. However, against Ecuador, Bolivia won 3–2, with goals from Raldes, Smedberg-Dalence, and Moreno. From this victory against Ecuador, Bolivia made it to the next round, the quarter-finals, for the first time since the 1997 tournament, which they hosted. Bolivia were defeated by Peru 1–3 in the quarter-finals of the tournament, and Bolivia's only goal of the game was a penalty in the last minutes of the match scored by Marcelo Moreno. In the next three Copa América editions, Bolivia performed poorly, losing all games in these tournaments.

In 2021, Bolivian Football Federation's new President, Fernando Costa Sarmiento, lamented the deteriorating condition of football in Bolivia and vowed to rebuild the country's football system. He accused the previous Presidents of mismanaging football as he aimed to reconstruct Bolivian football into a more professional manner.

On 28 March 2023, Bolivia registered its first-ever away win against a World Cup team in the 21st century, a 2–1 over Saudi Arabia in Jeddah in a friendly.

Stadium

Bolivia played their home matches at Estadio Hernando Siles, which has an altitude of 3637 m above sea level, making it one of the highest football stadiums in the world. Many visiting teams have protested that the altitude gives Bolivia an unfair advantage against opponents. On 27 May 2007, FIFA declared that no World Cup Qualifying matches could be played in stadiums above 8,200 feet (2,500 m) above sea level. However, FIFA raised the altitude limit to 3,000 meters a month later after negative feedback against the ban, and included a special exception for La Paz, thus allowing the stadium to continue holding World Cup qualifying matches. A year after the original ban, in May 2008, FIFA removed the altitude limit entirely. In 2024 the Bolivian Football Federation decided that from then on the home games would be played in the Estadio Municipal de El Alto, that has an altitude of 4150 m above sea level. The official reasoning by the coach is that it was freshly renovated and that they would play where they live.

Team image

Kit history

Bolivia's first uniforms were all white. In the 1930 FIFA World Cup, before the match with Yugoslavia, Bolivia painted one of the letters in "Viva Uruguay" in each of the eleven starters' jerseys to please the local crowd. In the following game with Brazil, given the adversary also wore white, Bolivia instead borrowed Uruguay's own blue uniform to play. Bolivia again painted a message to the hosts in the 1945 South American Championship, with the players' jerseys reading "Viva Chile". In 1946, Bolivia changed their jersey colors to black and white stripes, like the colors of the Cochabamba region. FBF reverted to white the following year. In 1957, FBF decided to use the colors of the Flag of Bolivia. Given that red and yellow were used by many of the other South American national teams, green became the primary color, leading to the nickname "La Verde" ("The Green").

Kit sponsorship

Results and fixtures

Main article: Bolivia national football team results (2020–present)

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2025

• Polo
• Guerrero
• Flores
• Terceros
• Cuéllar
• Rondón
• Terceros
• Monteiro
• J. Rodríguez
• Córdoba
• Quintero
• Terceros
• Matheus
• Sadulayev
• Al. Miranchuk
• Sergeyev
• Son Heung-min
• Cho Gue-sung
• Kamada
• Machino
• Nakamura
• Magallanes
• Soyer

2026

Coaching staff

Coaching history

:Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

• BOL Jose de la Cerda (1926)
• BOL Jorge Valderrama (1927–1929)
• BOL Ulises Saucedo (1930–1937)
• BOL Julio Borelli (1938–1945)
• BOL Diógenes Lara (1945–1947)
• BOL Félix Deheza (1948–1950)
• ITA Mario Pretto (1950–1952)
• ARG César Viccino (1953–1958)
• BOL Vicente Arraya (1959)
• BRA Danilo Alvim (1960–1965)
• GRE Dan Georgiadis (1966–1967)
• FRG Rudi Gutendorf (1974)
• BOL Ramiro Blacut (1979–1981)
• CHI Raúl Pino (1985)
• BOL Ramiro Blacut (1985–1987)
• ARG Jorge Habegger (1988–1990)
• BOL Ramiro Blacut (1991–1992)
• ESP Xabier Azkargorta (1993–1994)
• ESP Antonio López Habas (1995–1997)
• SCG Dušan Drašković (1997–1998)
• ARG Héctor Veira (1998–2000)
• BOL Carlos Aragonés (2000–2001)
• ARG Jorge Habegger (2001)
• BOL ARG Carlos Trucco (2001–2002)
• ARG Dalcio Giovagnoli (2003)
• URU CHI Nelson Acosta (2003–2004)
• BOL Ramiro Blacut (2004-2005)
• BOL Ovidio Messa (2005)
• BOL Erwin Sánchez (2006–2009)
• BOL Eduardo Villegas (2009)
• BOL ARG Gustavo Quinteros (2010–2012)
• ESP Xabier Azkargorta (2012–2014)
• BOL Mauricio Soria (2014)
• ARG Néstor Clausen (2014)
• BOL Mauricio Soria (2015)
• BOL Julio César Baldivieso (2015–2016)
• ARG Ángel Guillermo Hoyos (2016)
• BOL Mauricio Soria (2016–2018)
• VEN César Farías (2018)
• VEN Daniel Farías (2018)
• BOL Eduardo Villegas (2019)
• VEN César Farías (2019–2022)
• BOL PAR Pablo Escobar (2022)
• ARG Gustavo Costas (2022–2023)
• BRA Antônio Carlos Zago (2023–2024)
• BOL Óscar Villegas (2024–present)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up to the squad for the friendly matches against Panama and Mexico on 18 and 25 January 2026, respectively.

Caps and goals updated , after the match against Mexico.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up during the last twelve months. COV Withdrew from the squad due to COVID-19.

INJ Withdrew from the squad due to injury.

PRE Preliminary squad / standby.

RET Retired from the national team.

SUS Withdrew from the squad due to suspension.

TRP Invited as a Training player.

WD Withdrew from the squad for non-injury related reasons

Player records

Main article: Bolivia national football team records and statistics

: :Players in bold are still active with Bolivia.

Most appearances

Most goals

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Main article: Bolivia at the FIFA World Cup

Copa América

Main article: Bolivia at the Copa América

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place

FIFA Confederations Cup

Pan American Games

Honours

Continental

• South American Championship / Copa América
  • Champions (1): 1963
  • Runners-up (1): 1997

Regional

• Bolivarian Games
  • ** Gold medal (2):** 1970, 1977
  • Silver medal (2): 1938, 1947–48
  • Bronze medal (2): 1965, 1973

Friendly

• Copa Paz del Chaco (4): 1957, 1962, 1979, 1993
• Copa Mariscal Sucre (1): 1973

Summary

;Notes:

• Shared titles.

Notes

References

References

1. "Famous Bolivian Footballers". Your Spanish Translation.
2. (29 January 2018). "World Football Elo Ratings: Bolivia". World Football Elo Ratings.
3. (15 June 2015). "Ecuador 2 − Bolivia 3".
4. (11 February 2011). "Historia de Nuestro Fútbol, Capítulo 2. Nacen la FBF y la Selección 1925-1926".
5. (12 June 2014). "Bolivia en la Copa del Mundo, Capítulo 1. Uruguay 1930".
6. "Bolivia- International Results".
7. (13 July 2014). "Bolivia en la Copa del Mundo, Capítulo 2. Brasil 1950".
8. "Ca2011.com".
9. "TAHUICHI HISTORY".
10. [https://web.archive.org/web/20111220065721/http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/technicaldevp/50/08/57/wc%5f94%5ftr%5fpart3%5f270.pdf 1994 FIFA World Cup Technical Report] (p. 133)
11. (2015-06-15). "Grupo A: Bolivia derrota 3-2 a Ecuador y acaricia los cuartos".
12. (24 May 2021). "Fernando Costa: "A reconstruir el fútbol" - JORNADA".
13. (2007-05-29). "Anger Echoes in South America After FIFA Bans Games at Altitude". The New York Times.
14. (2007-06-29). "FIFA excludes La Paz from altitude ban - report". Reuters.
15. (2008-05-28). "Fifa suspends ban on high-altitude football".
16. (2024-10-08). ""Wir spielen, wo wir leben": Bolivien und sein umstrittenes Stadion auf 4150 Metern".
17. "World Cup Kits: When Bolivia wore Uruguayan shirts to ingratiate fans".
18. (15 December 2025). "¿Perú vs. Bolivia? El rival de la Verde será un equipo del sindicato de futbolistas". Brújula Noticias.
19. (9 January 2026). "📝 CONVOCATORIA DE LA VERDE PARA ENFRENTAR A PANAMÁ Y MÉXICO.".
20. (12 January 2026). "COMUNICADO".
21. (18 January 2026). "COMUNICADO".
22. Rocabado, Ignacio. (14 January 2026). "Ante Panamá, Bolivia no tendrá al extremo izquierdo Terceros". [[La Razón (Bolivia).
23. "Bolivia - Record International Players".
24. "Copa Paz del Chaco".
25. "Copa Mariscal Sucre".