The Bolivia national football team (), nicknamed La Verde, has represented Bolivia in men's international football since 1926. Organized by the Federación Boliviana de Fútbol (), it is one of the ten members of FIFA's South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).
After playing in the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, they have qualified just once, in 1994, where they were eliminated in the group stage. Bolivia have never advanced past the first round of any World Cup, and have only scored one goal, in 1994. Despite their World Cup performances, Bolivia won the Copa América at home in 1963, and finished runners-up in 1997, which they also hosted. At the 2015 Copa América in Chile, they advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time since 1997, after defeating Ecuador 3–2. This also ended a winless streak in the Copa América, with their last victory being on 28 June 1997, when they defeated Mexico 1–0 in the semi-finals.
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 against Yugoslavia at the Estadio Parque Central, then Brazil in the Estadio Centenario. 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. 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 against 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 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.
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. 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.
Stadium Bolivia played their home matches at Estadio Hernando Siles, which has an altitude of 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 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 Kit supplier Period Penalty 1977–1979 Adidas 1980–1982 Penalty 1983–1986 Adidas 1987–1988 El Palacio de las Gorras 1989–1990 Adidas 1991–1992 Umbro 1993–1999 Atletica 2000–2005 Marathon 2006–2010 Walon 2011–2014 Marathon 2015–present
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2025
2026
Coaching staff
RoleName 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
Coaching history Caretaker managers are listed in italics.
Jose de la Cerda (1926) Jorge Valderrama (1927–1929) Ulises Saucedo (1930–1937) Julio Borelli (1938–1945) Diógenes Lara (1945–1947) Félix Deheza (1948–1950) Mario Pretto (1950–1952) César Viccino (1953–1958) Vicente Arraya (1959) Danilo Alvim (1960–1965) Freddy Valda (1965) Dan Georgiadis (1966–1967) Freddy Valda (1969) Freddy Valda (1973) Rudi Gutendorf (1974) Freddy Valda (1975) Ramiro Blacut (1979–1981) Raúl Pino (1985) Ramiro Blacut (1985–1987) Jorge Habegger (1988–1990) Ramiro Blacut (1991–1992) Xabier Azkargorta (1993–1994) Antonio López Habas (1995–1997) Dušan Drašković (1997–1998) Héctor Veira (1998–2000) Carlos Aragonés (2000–2001) Jorge Habegger (2001) Carlos Trucco (2001–2002) Dalcio Giovagnoli (2003) Nelson Acosta (2003–2004) Ramiro Blacut (2004–2005) Ovidio Messa (2005) Erwin Sánchez (2006–2009) Eduardo Villegas (2009) Gustavo Quinteros (2010–2012) Xabier Azkargorta (2012–2014) Mauricio Soria (2014) Néstor Clausen (2014) Mauricio Soria (2015) Julio César Baldivieso (2015–2016) Ángel Guillermo Hoyos (2016) Mauricio Soria (2016–2018) César Farías (2018) Daniel Farías (2018) Eduardo Villegas (2019) César Farías (2019–2022) Pablo Escobar (2022) Gustavo Costas (2022–2023) Antônio Carlos Zago (2023–2024) Óscar Villegas (2024–present)
Players Current squad The following players were called up to the squad for the friendly matches against Paraguay and Argentina on 27 and 30 September 2026, respectively. Caps and goals updated , after the match against Argentina.
Recent call-ups The following players have been called up during the last twelve months.
INJ Withdrew from the squad due to injury. PRE Preliminary squad / standby.
SUS Withdrew from the squad due to suspension.
WD Withdrew from the squad for non-injury related reasons
Player records
Players in bold are still active with Bolivia.
Most appearances
RankPlayerCapsGoalsCareer1Marcelo Moreno108312007–20232Ronald Raldes10233Luis Cristaldo9351989–2005Marco Sandy9361993–20035José Milton Melgar8961980–19976Juan Carlos Arce88152004–2022Carlos Borja8811979–19958Julio César Baldivieso85151991–2005Juan Manuel Peña8511991–200910Miguel Rimba8001989–2000
Most goals
RankPlayerGoalsCapsRatioCareer1Marcelo Moreno311082007–20232Joaquín Botero20483Victor Ugarte16451947–19634Carlos Aragonés15311977–1981Erwin Sánchez15571989–2005Julio César Baldivieso15851991–2005Juan Carlos Arce15882004–20228Máximo Alcócer13221953–1963Marco Etcheverry13711989–200310Miguel Aguilar10341977–1983
Competitive record FIFA World Cup