There has to be a team that comes in last in every qualifying tournament. That’s no exception in World Cup qualifying in CONMEBOL, where Venezuela are trailing the nine other national teams in South America. The team they host on Wednesday, Bolivia, are faring little better, trying to avoid allowing Venezuela to pass them in the standings.
Venezuela vs. Bolivia 2016: Start time, live stream, TV schedule, and 3 things to know
The bottom two teams in CONMEBOL qualifying are looking for any hope they can find of getting back into the race.
Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images
While it’s not a huge shock that Bolivia are in this position — they haven’t made the World Cup since 1994, and that was just their third trip to the world’s biggest tournament — it’s both surprising and disappointing to see Venezuela where they are. It wasn’t all that long ago that they were an exciting, up-and-coming team in South America with promise to perhaps cause a shake-up in the power structure of CONMEBOL’s national teams. Instead, they’ve fallen utterly flat in World Cup qualifying, failing to win even one match more than halfway through the tournament. This would be a good chance for them to get that first win, but they’ll have to be much, much better than we’ve seen from them in a long time if they’re going to earn it.
TV: Bolivia TV, Tigo Sports (Bolivia), Merediano Television (Venezuela)
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S.)
Match Date/Time: Thursday, 6:30 p.m. ET, 7:30 p.m. local
Venue: Estadio Monumental de Maturín, Maturín, Venezuela
Three big things to know
- Venezuela are bringing a very young squad to this game, with only three players in the squad holding more than 50 caps and most of the rest standing at well under 20. A staggering 16 players are under the age of 25 years old. When you look at all that it becomes starkly apparent that despite being seen as a team potentially on the rise after the 2014 World Cup, Venezuela are now firmly in a transitional stage as a national team. Hopefully they can get through that transition quickly, because it’s a shame seeing them fall off the way they have over the last two years.
- Both of these teams are in dreadful form, with Bolivia at just shy of a year since their last win, and Venezuela winless since June, a span running six matches. Any warm and fuzzy feelings Venezuela fans had about their fun Copa America run this past summer have long been wiped away. And while Bolvia fans are unfortunately used to long runs of futility, this one’s starting to feel even more frustrating than usual. Both teams need something, anything, to celebrate, and we could see a bit more vigor out of this match because of that need.
- Honestly, though, this match probably doesn’t matter much. With Bolivia and Venezuela so far back of the currently competitive pack — Bolivia are seven points back of Peru, who need some help to get back into the hunt — even if one of them win, it will still take a miracle and a half for them to qualify at this point. Right now they’re playing for pride and, potentially, to be a spoiler in future qualifying matches.
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