Daily Times

Bolivia reignited their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign with a 4-0 drubbing over Venezuela on Thursday in a game played more than 4,000m (13,100 feet) above sea level. Goals from Ramiro Vaca, Carmelo Algaranaz, Miguel Terceros and Enzo Monteiro handed Bolivia their second win of South American qualifiers and lifted them into seventh place in the 10-team standings. The result was a vindication of Bolivia’s move to play Thursday’s qualifier in El Alto — Spanish for “The Heights” — rather than at their usual home venue in neighboring La Paz, which is 3,600m above sea level. The thin air of El Alto clearly left Venezuela’s players struggling for energy against a Bolivian team aiming to qualify for their first World Cup since reaching the 1994 finals in the United States. Despite his team’s heavy loss, Venezuela coach Fernando Batista refused to dwell on the altitude issue after the game. “Out of 10 questions, eight are about altitude,” Batista said. “You won’t hear anything from me about it.” Bolivia took the lead after just 13 minutes with a superb goal from Vaca. The 25-year-old midfielder gathered the ball around 30 yards from goal, cut in from the left and unleashed a ferocious shot which flew into the top corner. Greece-based striker Algaranaz then drew a foul from Venezuela defender Jon Aramburu in the penalty box deep into first-half stoppage time before dusting himself off to convert the spot-kick and make it 2-0.