Venezuela national football team

Venezuela

Nickname(s)	La Vinotinto (The Wine-Red)[1]
Association	Federación Venezolana de Fútbol (FVF)
Confederation	CONMEBOL (South America)
Head coach	Fernando Batista
Captain	Tomás Rincón
Most caps	Tomás Rincón (138)
Top scorer	Salomón Rondón (45)
Home stadium	Estadio Monumental Estadio Olímpico de la UCV Estadio Metropolitano de Mérida
FIFA code	VEN
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	44 4 (24 October 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	20 (first in 1967)
Best result	Fourth place (2011)

The Venezuela national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Venezuela), nicknamed La Vinotinto ("The Red Wine"), represents Venezuela in men's international football and is controlled by the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF), the governing body for football in Venezuela. Their nickname is a reference to the unique “red wine” team color that is used on their home jerseys. 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 Canada, 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]