{"id":431401,"date":"2026-01-25T02:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T02:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/431401\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T02:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T02:00:11","slug":"the-major-disadvantage-the-mexico-national-team-will-avoid-in-bolivia-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/431401\/","title":{"rendered":"The Major Disadvantage the Mexico National Team Will Avoid in Bolivia Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mexico national team\u2019s 2026 World Cup preparations continue when it visits Bolivia on Sunday, yet it\u2019ll play at a much more favorable environment, avoiding the suffocating altitude that makes Bolivia boast one of the greatest home-field advantages in international soccer. <\/p>\n

Javier Aguirre pushed for Mexico to play in hostile environments during El Tri\u2019s January camp<\/a>. Mexico started the tour defeating Panama 1\u20130 at the Estadio Rommel Fern\u00e1ndez, a stadium in which it hadn\u2019t secured a win since 2000. <\/p>\n

A trip to Bolivia to face a team preparing for the 2026 World Cup playoffs<\/a> won\u2019t be an easy task either, but it could\u2019ve been much more difficult. <\/p>\n

Mexico and Bolivia will meet at the Estadio Ram\u00f3n Tahuichi Aguilera, located in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 420 meters (1,378 feet) above sea level. With the World Cup<\/a> playoffs fast approaching, Bolivia is playing games at lower altitudes to prepare for the environment it\u2019ll find at Monterrey\u2019s Estadio BBVA when it clashes vs. Suriname on March 26. <\/p>\n

Historically, Bolivia benefited from playing games at the nation\u2019s capital, La Paz, some 3,660 meters (12,000 feet) above sea level. The stifling altitude leveled the playing field against some of the best teams in South America. <\/p>\n

But since 2024, Bolvia took it a step further and played its final home games of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers at arguably the toughest away ground in the sport, a stadium Mexico will feel lucky it won\u2019t be visiting. <\/p>\n

Bolivia\u2019s Unforgiving Fortress at Estadio Municipal de El Alto\"Estadio<\/p>\n

Bolivia is still yet to lose at the Estadio Municipal de El Alto. | Aizar Raldes\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Bolivia still have a chance of making the 2026 World Cup due in large part to the absolute fortress it found at the Estadio Municipal de El Alto. Located in the city of El Alto, a word that translates to \u201cThe Tall,\u201d deep within the Andes mountain range, the stadium sits at approximately 4,150 meters (13,615 feet) above sea level.<\/p>\n

The altitude of La Paz didn\u2019t really favor Bolivia, who was second worst in the standings after six games of the South American 2026 World Cup qualifiers, twice losing at home. In desperate need of results, Bolivia turned to El Alto to find a new home and \u00d3scar Villegas\u2019s side wouldn\u2019t lose a single home game for the rest of the qualifiers. <\/p>\n

FIFA previously banned international matches from taking place at above 2,750 meters (9,020 feet). Now that the ban is lifted, though, Bolivia went undefeated at a stadium that proudly has a slogan written next to the pitch that reads \u201c4,150 MT ALT. Se juega donde se vive\u201d (4,150 meters of altitude. We play where we live.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Estadio<\/p>\n

The slogan at Bolivia\u2019s home stadium in El Alto. | Aiza Raldes\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In the fall of 2024, Bolivia dismantled Venezuela 4\u20130 and then defeated Colombia. who had lost just once in almost two years, 1\u20130 in its first two international home games in El Alto. A pair of draws vs. Paraguay and Uruguay followed, before victories against Chile and then Brazil in the last game of the qualifiers secured Bolivia a place in the World Cup playoffs.<\/p>\n

Bolivia is arguably the weakest national team in all of South America, but thanks to its unforgiving home field advantage, it now has a chance of making the World Cup for the first time since 1994.<\/p>\n

Bolivia\u2019s Home and Away Record During 2026 World Cup Qualifiers<\/p>\n

Statistic<\/p>\n

Home<\/p>\n

Away<\/p>\n

Points<\/p>\n

17<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Wins<\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

1<\/p>\n

Losses<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

8<\/p>\n

Draws<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

0<\/p>\n

Goals Scored<\/p>\n

13<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Goals Allowed<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

28<\/p>\n

The Criticism of Bolivia\u2019s Home Field Advantage\"Raphinha<\/p>\n

Raphinha (right) harshly criticized the conditions at the Estadio Municipal de El Alto. | Buda Mendes\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The ruthless conditions Bolivia forces opponents to play in at El Alto have earned plenty of criticism from a number of players and managers alike.<\/p>\n

Back in September, Barcelona and Brazil star Raphinha didn\u2019t hold his tongue <\/a>after La Sele\u00e7ao fell in El Alto, saying: \u201cThe moment a team makes you play at an altitude of 4,000 meters to be able to win the game, it\u2019s a big disadvantage for all other national teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Venezuela was the first victim of Bolivia\u2019s devastating home stadium in Sept. 2024. After the match, then-manager Fernando Batista went as far as to say playing at El Alto was \u201cinhumane.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past, prominent players such as Neymar Jr. also said it was inhumane to play at such altitude\u2014even though he never played in El Alto. After a match in La Paz in 2017, Neymar shared a picture of Brazilian national team players wearing oxygen masks, trying to recover after playing a match in the thick Bolivian air. <\/p>\n

Former Venezuela international Al\u00ed Ca\u00f1as echoed the words of Batista and added: \u201cFor medical reasons you can\u2019t play at such altitude, at any moment something bad can happen to a player and we will lament it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bolivia won\u2019t be able to fight for its 2026 World Cup ticket at the altitude of El Alto. However, it\u2019ll likely return to its new-found fortress come the 2030 World Cup qualifiers, where criticism is also expected to resume as to whether it\u2019s safe to play at one of the most extreme locations in the world. <\/p>\n

READ THE LATEST SOCCER NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MATCH REACTION<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mexico national team\u2019s 2026 World Cup preparations continue when it visits Bolivia on Sunday, yet it\u2019ll play…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-431401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}