Nickname(s) | La Verde or Los Altiplanicos (The Green or the Highlanders) |
---|---|
Association | Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) |
Confederation | CONMEBOL (South America) |
Head coach | Vacant |
Captain | Carlos Lampe |
Most caps |
Ronald Raldes (93) Luis Cristaldo (93) Marco Sandy (93) |
Top scorer | Joaquín Botero (20) |
Home stadium | Estadio Hernando Siles |
FIFA code | BOL |
FIFA ranking | |
Current | 95 (12 January 2017) |
Highest | 18 (July 1997) |
Lowest | 115 (October 2011) |
Elo ranking | |
Current | 54 (23 January 2017) |
Highest | 22 (June 1997) |
Lowest | 86 (July 1989) |
First international | |
Chile 1–1 Bolivia (Santiago, Chile; October 12, 1926) |
|
Biggest win | |
Bolivia 7–0 Venezuela (La Paz, Bolivia; August 22, 1993) Bolivia 9–2 Haiti (La Paz, Bolivia; March 3, 2000) |
|
Biggest defeat | |
Uruguay 9–0 Bolivia (Lima, Peru; November 6, 1927) Brazil 10–1 Bolivia (São Paulo, Brazil; April 10, 1949) |
|
World Cup | |
Appearances | 3 (first in 1930) |
Best result | Group stage, 1930, 1950 and 1994 |
Copa América | |
Appearances | 26 (first in 1926) |
Best result | Champions, 1963 |
Confederations Cup | |
Appearances | 1 (first in 1999) |
Best result | Group stage, 1999 |
Website | www |
The Bolivia national football team (Selección de fútbol de Bolivia), also known as La Verde or Los Altiplanicos, has represented Bolivia in international football since 1926. Organized by the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) it is one of the 10 members of FIFA's South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).
After playing in the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, they qualified just once—in 1994. There, playing champions Germany in the tournament's opening game in Chicago, Bolivia lost 1–0 as Marco Etcheverry, considered the nation's best player of the 1990s, got sent off just three minutes after coming on as a substitute. They have never advanced past the first round of any World Cup, and have only scored one goal, in 1994. However, they did win the Copa América at home in 1963, and finished as runners-up in their following tournament as hosts in 1997. In the Copa América 2015 in Chile, after defeating Ecuador 3–2, they advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time since 1997. This also ended a non-winning streak in the Copa América, with their last win being on June 28, 1997, when they defeated Mexico 1–0 in the semi-finals.
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.