Wednesday, June 11

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Sports Mole previews Tuesday's World Cup Qualifying - South America clash between Bolivia and Chile, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Bolivia seek to boost their fading hopes of World Cup 2026 qualification as they host eliminated Chile in Tuesday's matchday 16 contest at the Estadio Municipal de El Alto.

La Verde are outside the coveted top six places, but they still have the possibility of finishing in the Inter-confederation playoff spot, with seventh-placed Venezuela four points ahead and three games remaining in the series.

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Match preview

Bolivia have not participated in a World Cup since 1994, and La Verde must take the scenic route to end their three-decade wait to return to the global showpiece.

While Oscar Villegas’s eighth-placed side still have a mathematical chance of finishing in the top six, the seven-point gap with three games to play suggests that those prospects are decidedly slim.

Currently, Bolivia rank eighth on 14 points, four shy of seventh-placed Venezuela, who occupy the Inter-confederation place with nine points left to play for.

Although Villegas’s men can still supplant the in-form side in seventh, their failure to win in the last six matches of CONMEBOL qualifying has undermined their World Cup qualifying chances.

One of the four losses suffered by the Green during that period came against Venezuela this month, a defeat that leaves them needing a five-point swing in the final matchdays.

Facing a Chile side with little to play for could be just what the doctor ordered, even if the travelling side aim to break their winless streak.

Beating Venezuela in November 2024 marked only the second time that La Roja secured maximum points during the qualifying campaign; however, that victory has since been followed by two losses and a draw.

Further complicating the Red One’s issues is their inability to score with meaningful consistency, evidenced by the two-time Copa America champions failing to find the net in their last three qualifiers and five of their past six matches.

With November's 4-2 win over Venezuela proving to be an outlier for Ricardo Gareca's side, the bottom side in CONMEBOL qualifying, who have lost nine of their 15 matches, are not fancied entering Tuesday’s encounter.

That sentiment is understandable, given that La Roja have picked up just one point from seven away qualifiers, failing to score in six of those trips.

Bolivia World Cup Qualifying - South America form:

Bolivia form (all competitions):

Chile World Cup Qualifying - South America form:

Chile form (all competitions):

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Team News

Hector Cuellar was withdrawn at half-time against Venezuela last time out after a rather torrid half that saw him score in the wrong end during the 2-0 loss for Bolivia.

Miguel Terceros has netted five of La Verde’s 14 goals, accounting for 35.7% of the home side's strikes, and the forward aims to be decisive on Tuesday.

While Chile did not appear to suffer any injuries in their defeat to Argentina, Arturo Vidal will miss the visit to Bolivia due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

With Eduardo Vargas not among the group that featured in the Argentina defeat, the bottom side will rely on Lucas Cepeda to add to his three goal involvements for the Red One.

Bolivia possible starting lineup:

Viscarra; Medina, Haquin, Morales, Paniagua; Vaca, Villarroel, Villamil; Fernandez, Terceros, Chavez

Chile possible starting lineup:

Cortes; Loyola, Maripan, Sierralta, Suazo; Altamirano, Echeverria, Pizarro; Cepeda, Sanchez, Osorio

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We say: Bolivia 2-1 Chile

Despite Bolivia's struggle for results, they have remained unbeaten in their last five CONMEBOL home qualifiers, winning three.

With little at stake for Chile on Tuesday, the Green are backed to claim a narrow victory over the two-time Copa America champions.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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