CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela’s national football team has climbed in the FIFA rankings, surpassing Bolivia in the Conmebol standings following a recalculation of points, despite recent elimination from 2026 World Cup qualification. The updated ranking will be officially published by FIFA on Wednesday, september 17 via its official web portal.
This shift comes after Venezuela’s challenging qualifying campaign, which concluded with a 3-6 defeat against Colombia on September 12th. A victory was needed to secure seventh place in the Conmebol qualifying group and a potential repechage berth, but Bolivia’s 1-0 win over Brazil simultaneously propelled them into that position.
Venezuela initially reached a ranking of 25 in the customary FIFA ranking in 2020, a period identified as crucial for identifying new talent for official tournaments.
hear’s a summary of Venezuela’s results throughout the Conmebol qualifying process:
* Date 1: Colombia 1-0 Venezuela
* Date 2: Venezuela 1-0 Paraguay
* Date 3: Brazil 1-1 Venezuela
* Date 4: Venezuela 3-0 chile
* Date 5: Venezuela 0-0 Ecuador
* Date 6: Peru 1-1 Venezuela
* Date 7: Bolivia 4-0 Venezuela
* Date 8: Venezuela 0-0 Uruguay
* Date 9: Venezuela 1-1 Argentina
* Date 10: paraguay 2-1 Venezuela
* Date 11: Venezuela 1-1 Brazil
* Date 12: Chile 4-2 Venezuela
* Date 13: Ecuador 2-1 Venezuela
* Date 14: Venezuela 1-0 Peru
* Date 15: Venezuela 2-0 Bolivia
* Date 16: Uruguay 2-0 Venezuela
* Date 17: Argentina 3-0 Venezuela
* Date 18: Venezuela 3-6 Colombia
Following the World Cup qualification failure, the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) announced the departure of head coach Fernando Batista. “the decision responds to the fact that the sports results established as an objective in this cycle were not achieved. Even though the effort and delivery shown, the Federation considers a change of course to ensure that the ‘vinotinto’ continues to advance in its process of growth and consolidation,” read a statement released by the FVF.
Venezuela is scheduled to play an international friendly against Argentina on October 10th at 7:00 p.m. Peruvian time (8:00 p.m. Caracas,9:00 p.m. Buenos Aires).