Bolivian national soccer team / world championships

Bolivia
Bolivia

World Cup record goalscorer:	Erwin Sanchez (1)
World Cup record players:	8 players (3 each)
Rank :	69
Balance sheet
6 World Cup games 0 wins 1 draw 5 defeats 1:20 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Bolivia 0: 4 Kgr. Yugoslavia Montevideo ( URY ); 17th July 1930
Biggest World Cup defeat Bolivia 0: 8 Uruguay Belo Horizonte ( BRA ); 2nd July 1950
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	3 ( first : 1930 )
Best results	Round 1, 1930, 1950, 1994
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of July 2018 )

This article contains a detailed description of the Bolivian national soccer team at world championships .

Overview

Bolivia has so far only been able to qualify for a World Cup finals. In the first final round you took part by invitation, in 1950 because Argentina did not take part.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	Preliminary round	Yugoslavia , Brazil	12.	Ulises Saucedo	The game against Yugoslavia was the first against a European team. Bolivia had also not played against Brazil before.
1934	Italy	not participated
1938	France	not participated
1950	Brazil	Preliminary round	Uruguay	13.	Mario Pretto	1 game only
1954	Switzerland	Registration refused by FIFA
1958	Sweden	not qualified				In the qualification of Argentina failed
1962	Chile	not qualified				In the qualification of Uruguay failed
1966	England	not qualified				In the qualification of Argentina failed
1970	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification of Peru failed
1974	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification of Argentina failed
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualification of Brazil and Peru failed
1982	Spain	not qualified				In the qualification of Brazil failed
1986	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification of Brazil failed
1990	Italy	not qualified				In the qualification of Uruguay failed
1994	United States	Preliminary round	Germany , South Korea , Spain	21st	Xabier Azkargorta	0: 1 in the opening game against reigning world champions Germany.
1998	France	not qualified				In the South American qualification , which was held for the first time in the league system between the South American applicants - with the exception of Brazil, which was directly qualified as world champion - Bolivia only finished 8th. The first four could qualify.
2002	South Korea / Japan	not qualified				In the South America qualification , which was again played in the league system, Bolivia only finished 7th. The first four were able to qualify, Uruguay fifth in the play-offs against Australia .
2006	Germany	not qualified				In the South America qualification , Bolivia only finished 10th and last. The first four were able to qualify directly, Uruguay in fifth this time failed in the play-offs against Australia .
2010	South Africa	not qualified				In the South America qualification , Bolivia only finished 9th, while Argentina suffered one of the biggest defeats with 6: 1. The first four were able to qualify directly, Uruguay came fifth in the play-offs against Costa Rica .
2014	Brazil	not qualified				After two wins, four draws and eight defeats in the South America qualification , Bolivia had no chance to qualify on September 6, 2013.
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the qualification , the team had no chance to qualify after the sixth from last game.

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Waiver of participation: twice (10%; 1934 and 1938)
• Not permitted: once (5%; 1954)
• Unqualified: 15 times (71%; 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018)
• Athletic qualification: once (5% or 6% of the attempts)
• Participation without qualification: twice (10%; 1930, 1950)
  • Preliminary round: three times (14%; 1930, 1950 and 1994)

The 1930 World Cup

The Bolivian team before the first World Cup match against Yugoslavia

Like all other South American teams that had already played international matches, Bolivia took part in the first World Cup in Uruguay. Bolivia was drawn into a group with Brazil and Yugoslavia and lost both games 4-0. Ulises Saucedo , the Bolivian coach, also had a role as a referee at this tournament: on July 19, 1930 in the preliminary round match between the teams from Argentina and Mexico (6: 3), with the Romanian coach assisting him as linesman.

The World Cup in 1934 and 1938

Bolivia did not take part in the World Championships in Italy and France in 1934 and 1938.

The 1950 World Cup

Bolivia should qualify for the World Cup in neighboring Brazil by playing against Argentina and Chile . With Argentina withdrawing, Bolivia and Chile qualified without a fight. In Brazil, the Bolivians were drawn into the only group of two and met the eventual world champion Uruguay . After a 0: 8, the team was able to return home after just one game and disappeared from the World Cup stage for 44 years.

The 1954 World Cup

Like many other countries, Bolivia had registered too late for the World Cup in Switzerland and was not allowed.

The 1958 World Cup

For the first time Bolivia competed in World Cup qualifiers and had to play against Argentina and Chile . Bolivia won both home games at the height of La Paz , but lost the away games. Since Argentina won in Chile, the Argentinians were able to qualify.

The 1962 World Cup

Had for the World Cup Chile in two games against Uruguay compete . After a 1-1 draw in La Paz they lost 2-1 in Montevideo, which meant that Uruguay qualified.

The 1966 World Cup

For the World Cup in the "motherland of football" to Bolivia should by games against Argentina and Paraguay qualify . Bolivia could only win the home game against Paraguay, the other games were lost and so Bolivia was eliminated from the bottom of the group.

The 1970 World Cup

For the first World Cup in Central America , the Bolivians Argentina and Peru were drawn as the football World Cup 1970 / qualifying opponents and Bolivia again used the height advantage of La Paz and won both home games. But since Peru won against Argentina in Lima and fought for a draw in Buenos Aires , the Peruvians went to Mexico and Bolivia was even ahead of Argentina.

The 1974 World Cup

For the first World Cup in Germany , Bolivia had to compete in a qualifying group with Argentina and Paraguay, lost all four games and was eliminated from the bottom of the group.

The 1978 World Cup

Qualification for the 1978 World Cup went a little better . In the first round, Bolivia surprisingly prevailed against Uruguay and Venezuela . In the second round the two games against Brazil and Peru were lost at a tournament in Cali , which qualified them for the World Cup in Argentina . But Bolivia still had the chance to qualify in the intercontinental playoff CONMEBOL / UEFA against Hungary . In the first game in Budapest they lost 6-0, the biggest defeat in an intercontinental playoff game. And the height of La Paz could not be used: the home game was lost 2: 3.

The 1982 World Cup

In qualifying for the 1982 World Cup , Bolivia failed against the finalists Brazil and could only win the home game against Venezuela.

The 1986 World Cup

Brazil and Paraguay were the opponents in qualifying for the 1986 World Cup . Bolivia couldn't win a game, but at least won a point in Rio de Janeiro . Another point in the home game against Paraguay brought only the last place in the group.

The 1990 World Cup

The qualification for the second World Cup in Italy went a little better, because in the end Bolivia and Uruguay were tied on points. The Uruguayans had the better goal difference, as Bolivia couldn't win a game without conceding a goal, while Uruguay had three wins without conceding a goal. Peru was only a point supplier this time.

The 1994 World Cup

In qualifying for the 1994 World Cup , Bolivia took second place in a group of five behind Brazil, but ahead of Uruguay, Ecuador and Venezuela, and was qualified for a World Cup for the first time. The 7-0 win against Venezuela was the biggest win in an international match.

At the finals in the United States , the Bolivians faced defending champions Germany in the opening game and were the first team to lose to the defending champions in the opening game. Bolivia was able to keep the 0-0 up until the 61st minute, before Jürgen Klinsmann scored the 1-0 winning goal for the defending champions after a misunderstanding between goalkeeper Carlos Trucco and defensive boss Gustavo Quinteros . In the 82nd minute the Bolivians lost Marco Etcheverry to a red card . In the second game Bolivia fought 0-0 against South Korea, the only point so far in a World Cup and in the last game against the compatriots of their Spanish coach, Erwin Sánchez scored their first World Cup goal at 1: 3 . With this, Bolivia said goodbye to the World Cup for at least 28 years.

→ Main article : Football World Cup 1994 / Bolivia

The 1998 World Cup

With the exception of world champions Brazil, all other CONMEBOL members played out four finalists in a group of nine. Bolivia only ended up in 8th place and therefore missed qualifying for the 1998 World Cup . It was only possible to get a point in the away games in Venezuela. In the home games Bolivia remained undefeated, but could not win all of them.

The 2002 World Cup

This time, all ten CONMEBOL members competed against each other in the South America qualification . Bolivia couldn't win an away game and lost 5-1 to Ecuador in La Paz, so that in the end they only finished 7th.

The 2006 World Cup

In the qualification for the 2006 World Cup , Bolivia took last place in the South America qualification, for which all CONMEBOL members competed against each other again, with the home games against Argentina, Chile and Ecuador and all away games being lost.

The 2010 World Cup

The Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz

On May 27, 2007, FIFA decided to ban official games in stadiums above 2,500 meters above sea level. In Bolivia, the stadiums in La Paz , Cochabamba , Sucre , Potosí and Oruro were affected. After violent protests, however, the altitude limit was changed to 3,000 meters in June 2007, and a special permit for La Paz (3,600 meters) was later issued.

So Bolivia was able to play in the qualification for the first World Cup in Africa in La Paz. The qualification went a little better than four years before, including a goalless draw in Rio de Janeiro against record world champions Brazil and Argentina in La Paz 6: 1 and Brazil 2: 1, but otherwise all away and home games were lost to Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela , it was only enough for the penultimate place.

The 2014 World Cup

In qualifying for the second World Cup in neighboring Brazil , Bolivia only finished penultimate. No away game and only the home games against Paraguay and Uruguay were won.

The 2018 World Cup

In the qualification all 10 CONMEBOL members joined from October 2015 again in home and away matches against each other. The best four teams qualified directly, the fifth had to play against a member of another confederation in playoff games. Bolivia started with a home defeat against two-time world champions Uruguay and then lost in Ecuador, which was the only team to win the first four games. Then they won a home win against Venezuela, which was the only team to lose their first four games. At the end of the games played in 2015, Bolivia lost in Paraguay. Even after that, things did not go well for the Bolivians and before the last four games they were only in penultimate place with ten points, 13 points behind a direct qualifying place. Since the fifth Argentina (22 points) and the sixth Ecuador (20 points) still had to play against each other, Bolivia had no chance of reaching the playoff place. Another decisive factor in the early qualification was the fact that the Bolivians played against Peru (2-0) and Chile (0-0) in September 2016 against Nelson Cabrera , who was not eligible to play , and who had already played for Paraguay once. FIFA drew 3-0 in Bolivia in both games on November 1, 2016, losing four points. These sanctions were then decisive in ensuring that the Peruvians instead of the Chileans reached the playoffs against the winner of the Oceania qualification, as Peru, which had lost to Bolivia, gained three additional points by this measure, while Chile only received two additional points because they had had drawn against Bolivia. For Bolivia itself, the point deduction was ultimately irrelevant, they would have been second to last in the table with 18 instead of 14 points, behind third from bottom Ecuador (20 points) and before bottom of the table Venezuela (12 points).

Ranking of the Bolivian World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Carlos Fernando Borja , José Milton Melgar , William Ramallo , Miguel Rimba , Erwin Sánchez , Marco Sandy , Vladimir Soria , Carlos Trucco - all 3 in one tournament

Ranking of the Bolivian World Cup players with the most goals

1. Erwin Sánchez - 1 goal

World Cup captains

• 1930: Rafael Méndez
• 1950: José Bustamante-Nava
• 1994: Carlos Fernando Borja

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

Bolivia only deployed legionaries in 1994 .

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1930 (2)	0
1950 (1)	0
1994 (3)	6 (1 in Argentina, 2 in Chile, 2 in Colombia, 1 in Portugal)	Ramiro Castillo (1); Marco Etcheverry (1), Álvaro Peña (1); Juan Manuel Peña (1), Modesto Soruco (1); Erwin Sánchez (3)

Players banned from World Championships

• 1994: Marco Etcheverry received the red card in the opening game against Germany three minutes after being substituted on and was then no longer used. Luis Cristaldo saw the yellow-red card in the game against South Korea and was suspended for the last game against Spain, as was Julio César Baldivieso, who received the second yellow card .

Games

Bolivia has played 6 World Cup games so far, none of which have been won, one has ended in a draw and five have been lost. At world championships Bolivia played once against the eventual world champions 1950 / Uruguay and once against the defending champions: 1994 / Germany . Bolivia did not meet any opponent in World Cup finals several times, all six encounters are still unique.

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	Remarks
1.	17th July 1930	0: 4 (0: 0)	Yugoslavia	*	Montevideo ( URY )	Preliminary round	First game against Yugoslavia
2.	July 20, 1930	0: 4 (0: 1)	Brazil	*	Montevideo ( URY )	Preliminary round	First game against Brazil
3.	02nd July 1950	0: 8 (0: 4)	Uruguay	*	Belo Horizonte ( BRA )	Group game
4th	June 17, 1994	0: 1 (0: 0)	Germany	*	Chicago ( USA )	Opening game	First game against Germany
5.	June 23, 1994	0-0	South Korea	*	Boston ( USA )	Group game	First game against South Korea
6th	June 27, 1994	1: 3 (1: 0)	Spain	*	Chicago ( USA )	Group game	First game against Spain

Biggest defeats

The Bolivian team suffered their biggest defeats against the following teams at World Cup tournaments:

•  Germany : preliminary round 1994 - 0: 1 (only game against Germany)
•  Yugoslavia : preliminary round 1930 - 4-0 (only defeat against Yugoslavia)
•  Spain : Preliminary round 1994 - 1: 3 (also a 0: 2 in a friendly match)

Records

• The longest run without a goal of their own: 5 games 1930–1994
• The biggest defeat in a World Cup tournament until 1954: Bolivia - Uruguay 0: 8 (1950). But this is not the biggest defeat against Uruguay. At the Campeonato Sudamericano in Peru in 1927 there was a 9-0 defeat.
• Highest location for qualifying matches: La Paz , 3,600 m
• Biggest defeat in intercontinental playoffs: Bolivia - Hungary 0: 6 on October 29, 1977 in Budapest
• First team to lose an opening game against the defending champions: 1994 0-1 against Germany

Negative record

• Fastest red card after substitution: Marco Etcheverry 82nd minute - 3 minutes after substitution, in 1994 in the game against Germany (as well as Ion Vlădoiu / Romania, who in 1994 against Switzerland in the 73rd and Morten Wieghorst / Denmark, who in 1998 against South Africa received the red card in the 85th minute)

See also

• Football World Cups - Statistics - Bolivia on fifa.com

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930–2010 (PDF; 200 kB)
2. ↑ fifa.com: History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year) (PDF; 325 kB), p. 10
3. ↑ 25 FACTS ABOUT THE FIFA World Cup ™ (PDF; 317 kB) - page 4, fact 24.
4. ↑ fifa.com: "In the light of the 57th FIFA Congress"
5. ↑ bbc.co: "Fifa relents on altitude ruling"
6. ↑ fifa.com: "Sanction against Bolivia for using a player who is not eligible to play"
7. ↑ In all three match reports, FIFA names Borja as captain, in the rsssf.com statistics he is only named in the first game, while José Milton Melgar is named as the captain in the 2nd and 3rd game.