Bolivia's coach, Oscar Villegas, said in an interview with EFE that "it's not just the altitude" that led La Verde to the playoff for the 2026 World Cup, after finishing in seventh place in the South American qualifiers that concluded last week.

“Definitely not,” was his response to a question about opinions outside Bolivia that the more than 4,000 meters of altitude of the Municipal de El Alto stadium, the Verde's new stronghold, were the only reason the team reached the playoff, leaving Venezuela without a World Cup spot.

Villegas argued that the 1-2 victory over Chile in Santiago on matchday eight marked “a turning point” for Bolivia in the qualifiers and recalled that “after 31 years” a victory was achieved away from home.

“We have to analyze the development of the matches, the games, the proposal that Bolivia has had. I think that from that we have improved, that it is not just a matter of altitude,” he stated.

The coach explained that he took the Verde to the 'Titan de Villa Ingenio' “because it is the best field in the country,” where “good football can be played” and this favors his proposal to the squad.

Generational change

More than a week has passed since the last day of the qualifiers, in which Bolivia beat Brazil in El Alto, with a well-executed penalty by international Miguel Terceros, who is second in the scoring table of the qualifiers along with Colombian Luis Diaz, both with 7 goals, one less than the Argentine Lionel Messi.

“That a 21-year-old kid is after Lionel Messi as the top scorer in the qualifiers of course fills us with pride,” said Villegas about Miguelito, whose performance in this campaign allowed the coach to “reaffirm” his work with the youth players and demonstrate “that increasingly superior objectives can be achieved with this generational change.”

The strategist indicated that he expects “the same” from other contemporaries of Miguelito such as Efrain Morales, Moises Paniagua or Ervin Vaca,and stated that he is “happy” with the performance of all the young players called up to the national team.

Villegas confessed that he did not expect to achieve “so soon” the replacement demanded by the fans because he took over the reins of the national team “in a very critical situation.”

When the coach took over in July 2024, Bolivia was second to last with three points in the six matches played up to that point.

“They already thought we were eliminated and we didn't want to talk about it, but only work. And we find ourselves in a situation where we are fine with this generational change”, he expressed.

Furthermore, he expressed his confidence that they will also “fight very well in the next qualifiers because these players will continue to make constant progress”.

Dream intact

For Villegas, the “post-match has been very intense”, but he is also enjoying it. because of what has been achieved, since it is the first time that Bolivia can at least aspire to the play-offs since the change in the qualifying format to a round-robin.

He also confessed that he did not expect the reaction of the Bolivian fans, who took to the streets en masse to celebrate, something that had not happened since 1994.

“We thought there would be joy in the country, but I really couldn't measure, before it happened, all this that football generates in people,” he indicated.

He recalled that, although among the current fans there are people who lived through the historic qualification on their own merit to the 1994 World Cup, the new generations “did not know Bolivia fighting to go to the World Cup” and valued above all the “very noble” support of the children.

Villegas is already thinking about the four “high-level” friends that the Verde will have in October and November against Jordan, Russia, South Korea and Japan, which will be part of the preparation for the play-offs in March.

When he started his career with La Verde, the coach planned to take it one game at a time, without promising qualification, but now that Bolivia is still in the running, he's clear that there are "possibilities" for the team to return to a World Cup after more than three decades.

"We want to go to the World Cup, that's absolutely clear. We are so committed to our country, to our federation, to the leadership that has trusted us to achieve our goal," he concluded.

In recent days, the name of former soccer player Marcelo Martins Moreno, the Verde's all-time leading scorer who retired in November 2023 and has made no secret of his desire to return to the team, has come up again.

In this regard, Villegas stated: "In a strictly sporting context,what we have to do is call up the players who are with the club. second to last with three points in the six matches played up to that point.

“They already thought we were eliminated and we did not want to talk about it, but only to work. And we find ourselves in a situation in which we are fine with this generational change”, he expressed.

Furthermore, he expressed his confidence that in the next qualifiers they will also “fight very well because these players will continue to make constant progress”.

Dream intact

For Villegas, the “post-match has been very intense”, but he is also enjoying it because of what they have achieved, since it is the first time that Bolivia can at least aspire to the play-offs since the change of the qualifier format to all against everyone.

He also confessed that he did not expect the reaction of the Bolivian fans, who took to the streets en masse to celebrate, as had not happened since 1994.

“We thought there would be joy in the country, but I really couldn't measure, before it happened, all this that football generates in people,” he indicated.

He recalled that, although among the current fans there are people who lived through the historic qualification on their own merit to the 1994 World Cup, the new generations “did not know Bolivia fighting to go to the World Cup” and valued above all the “very noble” support of the children.

Villegas is already thinking about the four “high-level” friends that the Verde will have in October and November against Jordan, Russia, South Korea and Japan, which will be part of the preparation for the playoff in March.

When he began his journey with the Verde, the coach planned to take it game by game, without promising qualification, but now that Bolivia is still in the running, it is clear that there are "possibilities" for the team to return to a World Cup after more than three decades.

"We want to go to the World Cup, that is absolutely clear. We are so committed to our country, to our federation, to the leadership that has trusted us to achieve our goal," he concluded.

In recent days, the name of former soccer player Marcelo Martins Moreno, the Verde's all-time leading scorer who retired in November 2023 and has made no secret of his desire to return to the team, has come up again.

In this regard, Villegas stated: "In a strictly sporting context, what we have to do is call up the players who are with a club."