Global InformationVenezuela national football team information
 | |||
| Nickname(s) | La Vinotinto (The Wine-Red)[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Federación Venezolana de Fútbol (FVF) | ||
| Confederation | CONMEBOL (South America) | ||
| Head coach | Fernando Batista | ||
| Captain | Salomón Rondón | ||
| Most caps | Tomás Rincón (132) | ||
| Top scorer | Salomón Rondón (41) | ||
| Home stadium | Estadio Monumental Estadio Olímpico de la UCV Estadio Metropolitano de Mérida | ||
| FIFA code | VEN | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 54  2 (4 April 2024)[2] | ||
| Highest | 25 (November 2019) | ||
| Lowest | 129 (November 1998) | ||
| First international | |||
 Panama 2–1 Venezuela  (Panama City, Panama; 12 February 1938) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Venezuela 7–0 Puerto Rico  (Caracas, Venezuela; 16 January 1959) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Argentina 11–0 Venezuela (Rosario, Argentina; 10 August 1975) | |||
| Copa América | |||
| Appearances | 19 (first in 1967) | ||
| Best result | Fourth place (2011) | ||
The Venezuela national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Venezuela) represents Venezuela in men's international football and is controlled by the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF), the governing body for football in Venezuela. They are nicknamed La Vinotinto ("The Wine-Red"). When playing at home in official games, they usually rotate between three stadiums: The Polideportivo Cachamay in Puerto Ordaz, the Estadio José Antonio Anzoátegui in Puerto La Cruz and the Estadio Pueblo Nuevo in San Cristóbal. In friendly matches, they tend to rotate between the rest of the stadiums in the country.
Unlike other South American nations, and akin to some Caribbean nations, baseball is extremely popular in Venezuela, which diverts athletic talent away from football, contributing to its historic lack of success in CONMEBOL competitions. As of 2022, they are the only CONMEBOL side to have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Often Venezuela would go through entire qualification tournaments without recording a single win, although this has not happened since 1998. Until 2011, their best finish at the Copa América was fifth in their first entry, in 1967. It is only recently with the spread of the World Cup's popularity in nations where football was not the primary sport (such as Japan, the United States, and Australia) that the national team found incentives to increase player development and fan support. As of December 2019, Venezuela has the highest position on the FIFA World Ranking of any team that has not yet qualified for the World Cup, being ranked 25th.[4]
- ^ "Venezuela: ¿Por qué la 'vinotinto'?" (HTML). Culturizando.com. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 27 March 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA.com. FIFA. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.