Bolivia stun Colombia in World Cup qualifiers

EL ALTO, Bolivia: Bolivia´s dream of reaching the World Cup for only the fourth time in history was given another boost on Thursday after the minnows stunned Colombia 1-0 in South American qualifiers for the 2026 finals.

A superb individual goal from Miguel Terceros handed the Bolivians their fourth victory of qualifying and vaulted them up into the automatic qualification places. Bolivia´s fortunes have taken a dramatic upturn since the country started playing home qualifiers in El Alto, which is situated more than 4,000m (13,100 feet) above sea level.

El Alto -- Spanish for “The Heights” -- is around 400m higher than the Bolivians´ usual home venue of the Estadio Hernando Siles in neighboring La Paz, which is 3,600m above sea level. Bolivia opted to move fixtures to El Alto after losing two out of their opening three home qualifiers in La Paz last year.

The move has paid off, with Thursday´s 1-0 win coming after a 4-0 rout of Venezuela at the same venue in September. After claiming a shock 2-1 win away to Chile last month, Bolivia are now sitting in fourth place in the South American standings with 12 points from nine games.