Bolivia at the FIFA World Cup

Last updated

This is a record of Bolivia's results at the FIFA World Cup.

Contents

The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 48 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup final is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final. [1]

Bolivia has qualified for the World Cup on three occasions, in 1930, 1950 and 1994, with two first editions being invited to compete. They have played in six matches at the Finals, but have lost five and drawn one, with their only goal coming against Spain in 1994.

Overall record

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
YearRoundPositionPldWD*LGFGAPldWDLGFGA
Flag of Uruguay.svg 1930 Group stage12th200208Qualified as invitees
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg 1934 Did not enterDeclined participation
Flag of France (1794-1815, 1830-1958).svg 1938
Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg 1950 Group stage13th100108Qualified automatically
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg 1954 Did not enterDeclined participation
Flag of Sweden.svg 1958 Did not qualify420266
Flag of Chile.svg 1962 201123
Flag of England.svg 1966 410349
Flag of Mexico.svg 1970 420256
Flag of Germany.svg 1974 4004111
Flag of Argentina.svg 1978 83141025
Flag of Spain.svg 1982 410356
Flag of Mexico.svg 1986 402227
Flag of Italy.svg 1990 430165
Flag of the United States.svg 1994 Group stage21st30121485122211
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg 1998 Did not qualify164571821
Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Flag of Japan.svg 2002 184682133
Flag of Germany.svg 2006 1842122037
Flag of South Africa.svg 2010 1843112236
Flag of Brazil.svg 2014 162681730
Flag of Russia.svg 2018 1842121638
Flag of Qatar.svg 2022 1843112342
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Flag of Mexico.svg Flag of the United States.svg 2026 To be determinedTo be determined
Flag of Morocco.svg Flag of Portugal (official).svg Flag of Spain.svg 2030
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg 2034
TotalGroup stage3/226015120168433293200326
*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

By match

World CupRoundOpponentScoreResultVenueScorers
1930 Group stageFlag of Yugoslavia (1918-1943).svg  Yugoslavia 0–4 L Montevideo
Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil 0–4 L Montevideo
1950 Group stageFlag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 0–8 L Belo Horizonte
1994 Group stageFlag of Germany.svg  Germany 0–1 L Chicago
Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg  South Korea 0–0 D Foxborough
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1–3 L Chicago E. Sánchez

Head-to-head record

Record players

Eight players have been fielded in all of Bolivia's group matches in 1994, making them record World Cup players for their country. In the 1930 and 1950 editions, Bolivia was drawn into groups with less than four teams, allowing those years' squads to earn fewer caps.

RankPlayerMatchesWorld Cups
1 Carlos Borja 31994
Milton Melgar 31994
William Ramallo 31994
Miguel Rimba 31994
Erwin Sánchez 31994
Marco Sandy 31994
Vladimir Soria 31994
Carlos Trucco 31994

Top goalscorers

The only Bolivian goal at a FIFA World Cup was scored by Erwin Sánchez during their 1–3 defeat against Spain in 1994. Bolivia had not scored in their previous five World Cup matches.

See also

References

  1. 2006 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage Archived June 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (PDF), FIFA.com. Retrieved on June 6, 2007.