Colombia's coach accuses Bolivia of espionage before the World Cup qualifier

Colombia national team head coach Nestor Lorenzo has accused Bolivia of spying on his team ahead of Thursday's 2026 World Cup qualifying match at Municipal Stadium El Alto.

He said the Colombian Football Federation would file a formal complaint on the matter and provide photographic evidence to support the case.

“It's unfortunate that they send you to spy and stuff,” Lorenzo said at a news conference Wednesday. “I don’t know where it came from or who it was, but we have identified him, we have photos and we will file a complaint about the case.”

“Of course you want to train with the necessary discretion and what happened was a breach of the team’s privacy. We have photos of the entire person, we will see what happens in the next few hours.”

Bolivia national team head coach Oscar Villegas minimized Lorenzo's accusation of espionage, pointing out that images of Bolivia's practices conducted behind closed doors had also been leaked.

When asked about the alleged intention to inflate the balls beyond the required level to give her team an advantage, Villegas emphasized the seriousness of the situation and pointed out that these World Cup qualifying rounds are not a “casual neighborhood game “ act. “FIFA and Conmebol are sending staff to control every aspect of the game,” he added.

The game between Bolivia and Colombia will be played in a stadium at an altitude of over 4,000 meters.

The allegations from Colombia come just months after it was revealed that Canada Soccer used drones to spy on multiple opponents in multiple competitions. The New Zealand women's soccer team first reported suspicious drone activity to French police ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, before authorities traced the activity to Canada Soccer employee Joseph Lombardi.

FIFA then fined Canada Soccer $313,000 while also deducting six points from its Olympics squad. The Olympics incident exposed what the federation's chief executive called a “systemic culture” within Canada Soccer.

Colombia and Bolivia have faced each other twelve times since 2003 Los Cafeteros staying ahead with an 8-1-3 (WLD) record. Colombia is currently in second place in the Conmebol World Cup qualifying standings, while Bolivia is struggling in eighth place.