Not much was expected to happen during the international break this week, but Bolivia shocked the entire soccer world by upsetting Colombia in a win that could change the course of Bolivian soccer forevermore.

Bolivia has largely been the punching bag of South American Soccer, especially in the case of their performances in past Copa Americas and World Cup Qualifying Campaigns. La Verde hasn’t qualified for a World Cup since 1994 and hasn’t made it to a knockout stage of the Copa America since 2015. Things seemed to stay the same, as Bolivia were embarrassed at the 2024 Copa America losing all of their games and only scoring one goal. Ever since that tournament, La Verde has gone on to win three straight games and insert themselves into 6th place in South American World Cup Qualifying, a spot that would see them qualify for 2026.

The Secret to Bolivia’s success has been attributed to two new factors. New Manager Oscar Villegas took over after the disaster that was Bolivia’s 2024 Copa America campaign and he has hit the ground running winning all of his three games in charge. Bolivia play a very defensive style of soccer, relying on a strong defense and a lightning fast counter attack. This approach has delivered for La Verde scoring 7 goals in 3 games, while only conceding one. Villegas may just be able to deliver Bolivia their first ever appearance in the World Cup in over 30 years.

The final piece of the puzzle to Bolivia’s new success has been a stadium change which is quite surprising. Bolivia often play at La Paz a stadium that is around 3,637 meters above sea level. The high altitude has resulted in some major results including a 6-1 win over Argentina in 2009. Many players such as Messi and Neymar stating that La Paz was the hardest place to play in the world because of the altitude and lack of oxygen. Speaking of Brazil and Neymar, the Selecao infamously had to wear oxygen masks after a 0-0 draw at La Paz back in 2017 just because of how bad the altitude was on the Brazilians.

Bolivia took those concerns and ramped it up a notch. Instead moving to a stadium with a lower altitude, they moved to the Estadio Municipal de El Alto, which is around 500 meters higher in the sky. Venezuela were the first team to make the trip to El Alto, evening preparing by training with hyperbaric chambers. It made no difference as Bolivia smashed them 4-0. La Verde’s second game at El Alto was against Colombia a team whose only loss since February 2022 was against Argentina in the Copa America Final back in July. Bolivia went down a man in the 20th minute, but it didn’t matter as they went on to beat the Colombians 1-0, sending shockwaves throughout the world of soccer.

Bolivia finally have hope, and with an expanded World Cup on the horizon, there just may be a chance we see the Condors flying high in 2026.