Bolivia's chances of reaching the World Cup for only the fourth time in history got a boost on Thursday when the underdogs beat Colombia 1-0 in South American qualifiers for the 2026 finals.

Miguel Terceros scored a fantastic individual goal, which gave the Bolivians their fourth victory in the qualifying rounds and put them in the automatic qualification places.

Since Bolivia started playing home qualifiers in El Alto, which is more than 4,000 metres above sea level, the country's fortunes have taken a dramatic turn.

El Alto, which means "The Heights" in Spanish, is about 400 metres higher than the Bolivians' usual home venue, the Estadio Hernando Siles in neighbouring La Paz, which is 3,600 metres above sea level.

After losing two out of their opening three home qualifiers in La Paz last year, Bolivia decided to move fixtures to El Alto.

It's been a successful strategy, with Thursday's 1-0 win following a 4-0 rout of Venezuela at the same venue in September.

After a surprising 2-1 win against Chile last month, Bolivia are now in fourth place in the South American standings with 12 points from nine games.

The top six teams in the round-robin tournament automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup in North America, which is being expanded to 48 teams for the first time.

Bolivia last made it to the World Cup in 1994 in the United States. They also played in the 1930 and 1950 tournaments after being invited to compete.

Given their current performance, Bolivia may still qualify for the 2026 finals on merit despite a 20th-minute red card to central midfielder Hector Cuellar. They managed to secure a victory over Colombia, who remain second in the table.

The winning goal from Terceros came in the 58th minute. The 20-year-old winger, who plays for Brazilian club Santos, cut in from the right flank, shimmied past Colombian defenders Jhon Lucumi and Kevin Castano, and unleashed a left-footed thunderbolt that flew into the top corner.

On Thursday, Ecuador were playing Paraguay in Quito, while Lionel Messi and the world champions, Argentina, were away to Venezuela in Maturin.

In the late game, Brazil face Chile in Santiago.