Bolivia national football team

History

Bolivia debuted in international football in 1926, one year after the foundation of the Bolivian Football Federation. As participants of the 1926 South American Championship in Chile, Bolivia scored first against the hosts with Téofilo Aguilar, but wound up defeated by the Chileans 7–1. Bolivia also lost the following three games, 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 FIFA World Cup, held in Uruguay. Drawn in Group 2 of the 1930 FIFA 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 in the 1950 FIFA World Cup, where Argentina's withdrawal from the qualifiers led Bolivia to 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 had the advantage of being better used to the higher altitudes. 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 revealed players such as Marco Etcheverry, Erwin Sánchez and Luis Cristaldo. Under Spanish coach Xabier Azkargorta and featuring nine players from Tahuichi, Bolivia became the first team to beat Brazil in the South American qualifiers while playing them in La Paz, and qualified for the 1994 FIFA World Cup finishing second in Group B of the CONMEBOL qualifiers behind the Brazilians themselves. Bolivia was drawn into the tournament's Group C, and got selected as the adversary of defending champions Germany in the tournament's opening match. Bolivia lost in Chicago's Soldier Field 1–0 following a screw-up by goalkeeper Carlos Trucco, while ace Etcheverry, who came on as a substitute for William Ramallo in the 79th minute, got sent off just three minutes later. Following a 0–0 draw with South Korea at Foxboro Stadium, Bolivia returned to Chicago and lost 3–1 to Spain, with Sánchez scoring the first ever Bolivia goal in the World Cup. Following that Bolivia again hosted the South American Championship, now known as Copa América, in 1997. Again the team reached the final, to finish as runner-up to Brazil.

In the 2015 Copa América in Chile, Bolivia were 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 Martins. From this victory against Ecuador, Bolivia made it to the next round, the quarter-finals, for the first time since the 1997 tournament, in which they hosted it. Bolivia were deafeted by Peru 1–3 in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Bolivia's only goal of the game was a penalty in the last minutes of the match by Marcelo Martins Moreno.

Kit history

Bolivia's first uniforms were all white. In the 1930 FIFA World Cup, Bolivia painted before the starting match with Yugoslavia 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 one of the colors in the Flag of Bolivia. Given red and yellow were used by many of the other South Americans, green became the primary color, leading to the nickname "El Verde" ("The Green").

Stadium

Bolivia play their home games 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 protest that the altitude gives Bolivia an unfair advantage against opponents. On May 27, 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 after months of campaigning against the ban, thus allowing the stadium to continue holding World Cup qualifying matches.

Pan American Games record

Most capped players

Players in bold are still active at international level. As of November 15, 2016, the ten players with the most caps for Bolivia are:

Top goalscorers

Players in bold are still active at international level. As of October 11, 2016, the ten players with the most goals for Bolivia are:

Match results and fixtures

Recent matches as well as any future scheduled matches.

Current squad

The following 29 players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Venezuela on November 10 and Paraguay on November 15, 2016. Caps and goals updated as of November 15, 2016 after the game against Paraguay.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up during the last twelve months. Retired players are not included.