The national team of Bolivia, which competes in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, used the previous week to train with players participating in the national championship of that country, because at that time football activity was paralyzed due to extra-sporting problems (complaints of alleged corruption and later investigations.

On the third date of the Conmebol qualifying tournament, Bolivia aims to win the first match of the qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup, after two consecutive defeats against Brazil (5-1, away to Belén) and Argentina (3-0, in La Paz). The green team is in last place in the Conmebol standings, although it did not start the competition with three points deducted like its next rivals, Ecuador (punished by TAS for the Byron Castillo case).

However, even though coach Gustavo Costas was able to work for five consecutive days, the Argentine is again plagued by bad news, as the announcement of the continuation of the domestic competition will create a serious inconvenience ahead of the welcome of Ecuador in La Paz on October 12.

‘Full schedule’

the newspapernewspaper from La Paz, reported in this sense: “The national team will play against Ecuador, on October 12, in La Paz, with only three days to meet and prepare for this match on the third date of the qualification for the 2026 World Cup after confirming “continuation of the professional division championship, leaving us with a busy schedule.”

According to the press note, “Gustavo Costas has players Always Ready, Bolívar and The Strongest as the base of his team, a formula he will repeat in this double date, when he faces Ecuador and Paraguay. Round 27 (Bolivian tournament) games for these three clubs were scheduled for Sunday, October 8: Always Ready will host Palmaflor in El Alto, Bolívar will visit Wilstermann in Cochabamba and The Strongest will play Oriente Petrolero in Tahuichi. The following day, selected from these clubs will join the concentration in La Paz, arriving at the same time as the legionnaires.”

In Ecuador, Pro League competition will come to a halt after night commitments this Sunday; However, Félix Sánchez Bas’s team has few local footballers, as most of them play abroad (among the starters, a convincing majority are legionnaires).

“Time Against”

According to the newspaper Costas, the coach of Ecuador’s champions with Barcelona in 2012, “wanted to hide his anger behind optimism about the return of football and the recognition of the need for footballers to have the rhythm of competition. After the match against Ecuador, Bolivia will face Paraguay on Tuesday, October 17, in Asunción, four days for rest, training and travel.”

Even before the news about the sequel the newspaper predicted a complicated scenario: “With time against, the senior team carries more weight to reach the match against Ecuador in better football conditions, a tough opponent and thirsty for points in La Paz, due to the penalty of subtracting the minus three units that he could have paid by winning against Uruguay (2- 1), now wants to move up the ladder.”

So far in the 21st century, in Ecuador’s six appearances in La Paz as part of South American qualifiers, Bolivia has failed to win. The Tricolori took 14 of the 18 contested points from La Paz, thanks to three wins and two draws. (D)