Football has been played in Bolivia for over a century. Its popularity is a factor that has made all regions of the country, despite their great diversity and cultural differences, speak the same language.
And this sport, since it began to unite more regions and make them better known among Bolivians themselves, has led, since the beginning of professionalism, to 93 teams being part of the tournaments in their different stages, including the nine departments and these, in turn, representatives from 28 capital and intermediate cities.
From Cobija to Yacuiba, passing through Colpa Bélgica to Vinto and El Alto, football in the country is, undeniably, a vehicle of unity.
From 1950 to 2024
The data compiled by the historian and former president of Bolivia, Carlos Mesa, inspired this and many other articles published in Los Tiempos.
Until 2020, Mesa, on his page “History of Bolivian football”, counted 87 clubs that played between one and more times in Bolivian professional football.
From 2021 to 2023, six more clubs were added, including the Cochabamba-based Universitario de Vinto and San Antonio de Bulo Bulo (Entre Ríos), which put their regions on the map, which had never before been in the top category of national football.
Of the 93 teams that have been part of this special chapter at least once in its history, many have only left a trace of memory, after dissolving into the sands of time. Others continue to shine in the First Division, while another great group fights in the promotion divisions.
