Bolivia national football team

For home qualifiers the Bolivia national football team uses Estadio Hernando Siles. The stadium is 3,637 metres above sea level making it one of the highest altitude arenas in the world. It has been the subject of controversy as high altitude may give the Bolivian players an advantage over opposition.

Over the years many big nations such as Argentina and Brazil dropped points to this relatively small nation. In world cup 2010 qualifying Argentina lost 6-1, their biggest ever defeat. FIFA did step in and ban games being played above 2,500 metres but after protests they raised the limit and allowed games to resume at Bolivia’s national stadium.

Outside of the world cup, Bolivia national football team had some success in the Copa America. In 1963 they won the competition when it was held on home soil. They did it the hard way playing Argentina in the semi-final, winning 3-2, and Brazil in the final, winning 5-4.

World cup history

1930

Uruguay

The 1930 world cup was the first edition of the tournament. Held in Uruguay it was eventually won by the hosts. The competition proved short and not so sweet for Bolivia as they lost two games they played. Both were heavy 4-0 defeats to Yugoslavia and Brazil.

1950

Brazil

It was 20 years later when the Bolivia national football team returned to the world cup finals. The outbreak of World War Two was partly responsible for that. This edition was again won by Uruguay. It was the eventual winners who Bolivia faced in their one and only group fixture.

They had been drawn to also play France in their group but they withdrew because of the travel involved. Even though they had half the number of fixtures as 20 years previously, they still conceded the same amount of goals. A thumping 8-0 loss was all they had to show for their trip to Brazil.

1994

United States

The Bolivia national football team’s third and final appearance to date came in 1994. Although it could hardly be described as a successful tournament for the side, it was certainly significant. After losing their opening fixture to Germany they went on to gain their first even world cup point – a 0-0 with South Korea. In their final fixture, despite losing to Spain, the team scored their first ever world cup goal.

Bolivia national football team