Bolivia national football team

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.^[4]

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 against Yugoslavia at the Estadio Parque Central, then Brazil in the Estadio Centenario.^[5] The match against the Yugoslavs would be the last match against a non-South American opponent for Bolivia until 1972 – when they again met Yugoslavia.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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 against Spain, with Sánchez scoring the first ever Bolivian goal in a World Cup.^[10]

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 after 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.^[8]

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 goalless 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 goalless. 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.^[11] Bolivia was 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, newly-appointed president of Bolivian Football Federation, 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.^[12]

Bolivia played their home matches at Estadio Hernando Siles, which has an altitude of 3,637 metres (11,932 ft) 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.^[13] 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.^[14] A year after the original ban, in May 2008, FIFA removed the altitude limit entirely.^[15] 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 4,150 metres (13,620 ft) above sea level. The official reasoning by the coach is that it was freshly renovated and that they would play where they live.^[16]

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

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2025

Venezuela  v  Bolivia

6 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Venezuela	2–0	Bolivia	Maturín, Venezuela
18:00 UTC−4	Cuéllar 5' (o.g.) Rondón 30'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Monumental Attendance: 46,741 Referee: Yael Falcón Pérez (Argentina)

Bolivia  v  Chile

10 June 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Bolivia	2–0	Chile	El Alto, Bolivia
16:00 UTC−4	Terceros 5' Monteiro 90'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Municipal de El Alto Attendance: 11,467 Referee: Esteban Ostojich (Uruguay)

Colombia  v  Bolivia

4 September 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Colombia	3–0	Bolivia	Barranquilla, Colombia
18:30 UTC−5	J. Rodríguez 31' Córdoba 74' Quintero 83'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez Referee: Darío Herrera (Argentina)

Bolivia  v  Brazil

9 September 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification	Bolivia	1–0	Brazil	El Alto, Bolivia
19:30 UTC−4	Terceros 45+1' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Estadio Municipal de El Alto Referee: Cristian Garay (Chile)

Jordan  v  Bolivia

10 October Friendly	Jordan	0–1	Bolivia	Istanbul, Turkey
19:00 UTC+3		Report	Matheus 90'	Stadium: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium Referee: Mehmet Türkmen (Turkey)

Russia  v  Bolivia

14 October Friendly	Russia	3–0	Bolivia	Moscow, Russia
20:00 UTC+3	Sadulayev 18' Al. Miranchuk 43' Sergeyev 57'	Report		Stadium: VTB Arena Attendance: 20,533 Referee: Nikola Dabanović (Montenegro)

South Korea  v  Bolivia

14 November Friendly	South Korea	2–0	Bolivia	Daejeon, South Korea
20:00 UTC+9	Son Heung-min 57' Cho Gue-sung 88'	Report		Stadium: Daejeon World Cup Stadium Attendance: 33,852 Referee: Ma Ning (China)

Japan  v  Bolivia

18 November 2025 Kirin Cup	Japan	3–0	Bolivia	Tokyo, Japan
19:15 UTC+9	Kamada 4' Machino 72' Nakamura 78'	Report		Stadium: Japan National Stadium Attendance: 53,508 Referee: Fu Ming (China)

Peru  v  Bolivia

21 December Unofficial friendly	Peru	2–0	Bolivia	Chincha Alta, Peru
15:30 UTC−5	Magallanes 87' Soyer 90+1'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Félix Castillo Tardío Referee: Roberto Pérez (Peru)
Note: The match was organized and contested by a team from SAFAP, an organization separate from the Peruvian Football Federation.[18]

2026

Bolivia  v  Panama

18 January Friendly	Bolivia	1–1	Panama	Tarija, Bolivia
17:00 UTC−4	Roberts 69' (o.g.)	Report	Barría 5'	Stadium: Estadio IV Centenario Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Bruno Arleu de Araújo (Brazil)

Bolivia  v  Mexico

25 January Friendly	Bolivia	0–1	Mexico	Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
15:30 UTC−4	Matheus  84'	Report	Berterame 68'	Stadium: Tahuichi Aguilera Attendance: 24,000 Referee: Carlos Betancur (Colombia)

Bolivia  v  Trinidad and Tobago

15 March Friendly	Bolivia	3–0	Trinidad and Tobago	Santa Cruz, Bolivia
16:00 UTC−4	Haquín 23' Godoy 38' Nava 51'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Guillermo Guerrero (Ecuador)

Bolivia  v  Suriname

26 March 2026 FIFA World Cup inter-confederation play-offs	Bolivia	2–1	Suriname	Monterrey, Mexico
16:00 UTC−6	Paniagua 72' Terceros 79' (pen.)	Report	van Gelderen 48'	Stadium: Estadio BBVA Attendance: 33,547 Referee: Alireza Faghani (Australia)

Iraq  v  Bolivia

31 March 2026 FIFA World Cup inter-confederation play-offs	Iraq	2–1	Bolivia	Monterrey, Mexico
21:00 UTC−6	Al-Hamadi 10' Hussein 53'	Report	Paniagua 38'	Stadium: Estadio BBVA Attendance: 49,286 Referee: Iván Barton (El Salvador)

Scotland  v  Bolivia

6 June Friendly	Scotland	v	Bolivia	Harrison, United States
13:00 UTC−4		Report		Stadium: Sports Illustrated Stadium

Algeria  v  Bolivia

10 June Friendly	Algeria	v	Bolivia	Kansas City, United States
--:-- UTC−5				Stadium: Sporting Park

As of 04 September 2024

More information Role, Name ...

Role	Name
Head coach	Óscar Villegas
Assistant coach	Horacio Pacheco Gabriel Ramírez Cristian Farah
Goalkeeper coach	Gustavo Gois de Lira
Fitness coach	Maximiliano Alonso
Fitness coach	Pablo Sciacia

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As of 21 November 2023^[20]

Players in bold are still active with Bolivia.

Most appearances

More information Rank, Player ...

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Marcelo Moreno	108	31	2007–2023
2	Ronald Raldes	102	3	2001–2018
3	Luis Cristaldo	93	5	1989–2005
	Marco Sandy	93	6	1993–2003
5	José Milton Melgar	89	6	1980–1997
6	Juan Carlos Arce	88	15	2004–2022
	Carlos Borja	88	1	1979–1995
8	Julio César Baldivieso	85	15	1991–2005
	Juan Manuel Peña	85	1	1991–2009
10	Miguel Rimba	80	0	1989–2000

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• Bolivia national under-23 football team
• Bolivia national under-20 football team
• Bolivia national under-17 football team
• Bolivia national futsal team