The Major Disadvantage the Mexico National Team Will Avoid in Bolivia Visit

El Tri will travel to Bolivia to conclude its January camp.

Mexico aims to secure consecutive victories in its first two games of 2026 | Arnulfo Franco/AFP/Getty Images

The Mexico national team’s 2026 World Cup preparations continue when it visits Bolivia on Sunday, yet it’ll 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.

Javier Aguirre pushed for Mexico to play in hostile environments during El Tri’s January camp. Mexico started the tour defeating Panama 1–0 at the Estadio Rommel Fernández, a stadium in which it hadn’t secured a win since 2000.

A trip to Bolivia to face a team preparing for the 2026 World Cup playoffs won’t be an easy task either, but it could’ve been much more difficult.

Mexico and Bolivia will meet at the Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, located in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 420 meters (1,378 feet) above sea level. With the World Cup playoffs fast approaching, Bolivia is playing games at lower altitudes to prepare for the environment it’ll find at Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA when it clashes vs. Suriname on March 26.

Historically, Bolivia benefited from playing games at the nation’s 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.

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’t be visiting.

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Bolivia’s Unforgiving Fortress at Estadio Municipal de El Alto

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

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 “The Tall,” deep within the Andes mountain range, the stadium sits at approximately 4,150 meters (13,615 feet) above sea level.

The altitude of La Paz didn’t 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 Óscar Villegas’s side wouldn’t lose a single home game for the rest of the qualifiers.

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 “4,150 MT ALT. Se juega donde se vive” (4,150 meters of altitude. We play where we live.”

The slogan at Bolivia’s home stadium in El Alto. | Aiza Raldes/AFP/Getty Images

In the fall of 2024, Bolivia dismantled Venezuela 4–0 and then defeated Colombia. who had lost just once in almost two years, 1–0 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.

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.

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Bolivia’s Home and Away Record During 2026 World Cup Qualifiers

Statistic	Home	Away
Points	17	3
Wins	5	1
Losses	2	8
Draws	2	0
Goals Scored	13	4
Goals Allowed	7	28

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The Criticism of Bolivia’s Home Field Advantage

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

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.

Back in September, Barcelona and Brazil star Raphinha didn’t hold his tongue after La Seleçao fell in El Alto, saying: “The moment a team makes you play at an altitude of 4,000 meters to be able to win the game, it’s a big disadvantage for all other national teams.”

Venezuela was the first victim of Bolivia’s devastating home stadium in Sept. 2024. After the match, then-manager Fernando Batista went as far as to say playing at El Alto was “inhumane.”

In the past, prominent players such as Neymar Jr. also said it was inhumane to play at such altitude—even 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.

Former Venezuela international Alí Cañas echoed the words of Batista and added: “For medical reasons you can’t play at such altitude, at any moment something bad can happen to a player and we will lament it.”

Bolivia won’t be able to fight for its 2026 World Cup ticket at the altitude of El Alto. However, it’ll likely return to its new-found fortress come the 2030 World Cup qualifiers, where criticism is also expected to resume as to whether it’s safe to play at one of the most extreme locations in the world.

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