CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers have ended, with excitement until the end for Bolivia and Venezuela. Both nations had the chance to qualify for World Cup play-offs, and in the games played Tuesday (Wednesday dawn in European time), Bolivia got the sought-after ticket for the play-offs, defeating Brazil.
A penalty goal by Miguelito from Bolivia, after a VAR review, was enough for Bolivia to finish seventh in the table with 20 points. Ancelotti's squad, already qualified (but with a rather bad looking fifth position with 28 points) was unable to transform many chances at the El Alto stadium, located 4,150 meters above sea level.
Meanwhile, Venezuela was thrashed by Colombia 6-3. A heartbreak for Venezuela, which started taking the lead, but were stopped by a "poker" from Luis Javier Súarez. Defeat means they were left with 18 points, out of the play-off spot.
Venezuela aimed to reach their first ever World Cup qualification (the only CONMEBOL team to never play in World Cup) benefitting from the expanded 2026 edition, with 48 teams instead of 32. However, it is Bolivia the country in tracks for first World Cup presence since 1994.
When are the Inter-confederation play-offs for World Cup 2026
In order to do that, Venezuela will then need to win the inter-confederation play-offs, held between teams from CONCACAF (North and Central America), AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONMEBOL (South America), and OFC (Oceania).
It will take a while, as they won't happen until March 23-31, 2026. There will be six teams, with fixtures being determined based on their FIFA ranking. Currently, the only other team alongside Bolivia is New Caledonia, from OFC: there will be two nations from CONCACAF, and one from Asia and Africa, to be determined after the international window of November 2025.