Gustavo Costas stopped being the coach of the Bolivian national team after four defeats in the same number of dates played in the Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. The Argentine coach never found a way back and the poor performance of his team along with the lack of Prospects of a possible improvement on the horizon led the Bolivian federation to remove the former Racing defender from his position. It is not yet known who could be his possible replacement. In three weeks the next dates will be played. The Bolivian Football Federation announced the dismissal of Argentine Gustavo Costas as Bolivian national team coach, due to poor results in the South American continent’s qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup finals scheduled for 2026. The Argentine technical director took over in August 2022 with the aim of taking the Bolivian team to the next World Cup, taking advantage of the sixth direct qualification slot or the chance of a playoff with an Asian team. However, in the South American classification, he never found his way nor knew how to capitalize on the 3,600-meter altitude of La Paz, where this team used to become strong. The news was announced by journalist César Luis Merlo on his Twitter account. In the current Qualifier, Bolivia lost 5-1 against Brazil as a visitor and also lost 1-0 against Paraguay in Asunción. At home, they lost by a landslide, 3-0 against Argentina, in an exhibition by the team led by Lionel Scaloni. Before his people, he suffered another defeat, which was 2-1 against Ecuador. Costas is the second South American coach to be fired since qualifying began. Also, Argentine Guillermo Barros Schelotto was dismissed from Paraguay after a goalless draw at home against Peru and losing 1-0 to Venezuela, but the Twin accumulated poor results from the previous Qualifier for Qatar 2023.
In his process in charge of the Bolivian national team, Gustavo Costas led the team through ten games in which he achieved a single victory, a draw, and eight losses. The negative outlook and the bad start without points in the Qualifiers ended up bringing his departure forward.