Bolivia

Bolivia 1996 Home – matchworn v Brazil (Pre-Olympic tournament)
Bolivia 2011 Away

There are a lot of fake Bolivia shirts out there and this one’s a popular one to do. Nonetheless, sourced from a reliable source we have this gorgeous youth matchworn from Umbro. One of the strangest templates as the pattern always overruns onto the numbers as if it came afterwards. There were a few variants of this design, with this having no sleeve cuffs. Patterned material and different styles of numbers front and rear, it is a strange one for sure, but a very nice strange one.

The shirt was used against Brazil which, surprisingly, narrows it down quite nicely. Most likely featuring in the 1996 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament where Brazil and Uruguay dominated Group 1. A 2-0 loss to Uruguay followed by a 4-1 loss to Brazil and a 2-1 loss to Peru had the makings of a disaster but results elsewhere and a 4-1 victory against Paraguay meant that they finish 3^rd out of 5, albeit 7 points off the knockout stages.

The next shirt is much simpler, being a plain white Walon shirt with a little green trim down the front and the Bolivian colours of green, red and yellow across the start of the front of the right sleeve and the same for the back of the left. Effective, but certainly a little bland, improved only by the green numbering.

The home version of this design appears to only have been used across a series of 2011 friendlies, against the likes of Guatemala, Panama and Peru. All photos I could find were in the green shirt and this is unlikely to be matchworn/prepared, though I concede it is possible. How did said friendlies go? Poorly. 1-1 draw with Guatemala and 2 draws with Peru (0-0 and 2-2) along with 2 losses to Panama (2-0 and 3-1) isn’t exactly anything to write home about.

Bolivia tend to  be very much in the background in CONMEBOL, their high altitude stadium typically providing a challenge but otherwise they struggle, with only 1 win in the Copa América since 1997. In World Cup qualifying, since it was expanded to the full scale round robin group they’ve never won more than 4 from their 16/18 games and those are typically at home only. Nonetheless, as a team they’ve had their moments. Champions of South America in 1963 and runners up in 1997 (both as hosts) along with a 4^th place back in 1949 shows that they can compete with the best. They’ve also been to 3 World Cups, twice as invitees (1930 and 1950), where they played 3 games and lost them all, and most recently in 1994 where a flawless home record and 4 away points meant they edged Uruguay for the qualification spot (other teams were Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela). Their golden generation managed a narrow 1-0 loss to Germany, a 0-0 draw with South Korea and a 3-1 loss to Spain to get sent home in 4^th place in their group. They’ve also done well in the Bolivarian games, with 2 titles, though senior sides haven’t competed since 1981.

The Bolivian women’s national side continues the pattern, with any of the benefit of a deep history. 3 wins from 26 Copa América Feminina games has meant they’ve never escaped the Group Stages and thus have never qualified for a World Cup. Their Bolivarian Games appearances haven’t inspired much confidence either, with 4^th place finishes in 2005 and 2009 with only a draw against Peru and a win against Venezuela to show for their efforts and similar results can be found in the South American Games. In terms of youth football, the men’s sides are similar to the senior side, with a little success here and there but otherwise, disappointing. The U23s have never reached the final four of Olympic qualifying, the U20s and U15s have 3 4^th places between them across 38 appearances but the U17s have had some success, with a South American title in 1986 and 2 U17World Cup group stages appearances either side of that, where they managed only 2 draws from 6 games. The women’s sides have two 4^th places at the U20 Championship and a Bolivarian Games bronze medal but otherwise have always exited at the group stages.

Their futsal side peaked in the early 2000s, with a 2^nd and 3^rd at the AMF World Cup and 4^th place in the Copa América but they’ve struggled since then at senior and youth levels, though they’ve avoided last place. Their women’s futsal team and U20 side have both also struggled for results and can only emulate not finishing last. Their beach soccer sides share the lack of success, with several very low finishes at various senior and youth tournaments, though they do hold a handful of wins. 6^th from 10at the 2018 Copa América de Beach Soccer is their best achievement to date.

Bolivia aren’t expected to qualify for 2022, though could tip the scales either way with their strong home advantage. Turns out having the highest national stadium in the world at over 3,500m above sea level does help. Their golden generation hasn’t yet been replaced, but never count out a result here and there to decide things.