| Nickname(s) | La Vinotinto (The Burgundy) Los Llaneros (The Plainsmen) |
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| Association | Venezuelan Football Federation | ||
| Confederation | CONMEBOL (South America) | ||
| Head coach | César Farías | ||
| Captain | Juan Arango | ||
| Most caps | José Manuel Rey (115) | ||
| Top scorer | Giancarlo Maldonado (22) | ||
| Home stadium | Estadio José Antonio Anzoátegui Polideportivo Cachamay Estadio Pueblo Nuevo |
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| FIFA code | VEN | ||
| FIFA ranking | 39 | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 39 (November 2011, December 2011) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 129 (November 1998) | ||
| Elo ranking | 33 | ||
| Highest Elo ranking | 19 (17 July 2011) | ||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 127 (1993, 1995, 1999) | ||
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| First international | |||
| Panama 3–1 Venezuela (Panama City, Panama; 12 February 1938) |
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| Biggest win | |||
| Venezuela 7–0 Puerto Rico (Caracas, Venezuela; 16 January 1959) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||
| Argentina 11–0 Venezuela (Rosario, Argentina; 10 August 1975) |
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| Copa América | |||
| Appearances | 14 (First in 1967) | ||
| Best result | Fourth Place, 2011 | ||
The Venezuela national football team is the national football team of Venezuela and is controlled by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol. It is nicknamed La Vinotinto (The Burgundy), because of the traditional burgundy color of their shirts.
Venezuela is the only national team in CONMEBOL to never have qualified for a World Cup. Often Venezuela would go through entire qualification tournaments without recording a single win, although this has changed in the last two qualifying rounds. Until 2011, their best finish in Copa América was fifth in their first entry, in 1967.
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 Estadio Pueblo Nuevo, in San Cristóbal. In friendly matches they tend to rotate between the rest of the stadiums in the country.
The Unofficial Football World Championship, and the related Nasazzi's baton title, was briefly held by Venezuela in 2006.
Unlike other South American nations, and akin to 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. It is only recently with the spread of the World Cup's popularity in nations where football was not the primary sport (Japan, the United States, Australia, etc.) that the national team found incentives to increase player development and fan support.
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Venezuela did not participate in World Cup qualifying until the 1966 qualifiers in which they were drawn with Uruguay and Peru, but failed to register a point in four games. In the 1970 qualifiers they managed to register a point, and after withdrawing from the 1974 series, repeated that in the 1978 qualifiers. The 1982 qualifiers saw them register their first win, over Bolivia. They wouldn't register another World Cup qualifying win until the 1994 series when they defeated Ecuador. A highlight of the 1998 qualifiers was goalkeeper Rafael Dudamel scoring against Argentina in a 5–2 defeat.
Despite poor results during the 60s and 70s, outstanding players like Luis Mendoza and Rafael Santana achieved recognition.
Since 2002, Venezuela has been getting respect for their football evolution in the qualifiers, under the technical direction of Richard Paez, who despite having changed the attitude of his players, resigned from the national team in late 2007, because of the dissatisfaction of Venezuelans followers after failing to qualify for the 2006.
With new coach César Farías, Venezuela gets a better performance. At the beginning of 2010, during qualifying, the national team wins its first historical result against Ecuador in Quito where the Ecuadorians had previously held a long unbeaten record. Something similar happened to Bolivia in La Paz, where Venezuela won for the first time at Bolivian altitude. Also, as historical data, the national team does get his first point against Brazil in qualifying. Despite not qualifying for the 2010, Venezuela achieved his best result in qualifying. They finished this round with 22 points in 18 matches, surpassing Peru and Bolivia for eighth place in the region.
After the excellent results obtained in the Copa America, where they won the 4th place, Venezuela with a team composed mostly of players who play in European leagues, began the qualification with another historic result: against Argentina in Puerto La Cruz they get their first points, winning (1-0) for the first time in history.
Venezuela first participated in the Copas America in 1967, and finished 5th after defeating Bolivia 3–0 with a side containing Mendoza and Santana. The 1975 tournament saw Venezuela drawn in a group with Brazil and Argentina, and finished bottom with an 11–0 defeat to Argentina. In the 1979 edition, which would be the international swansong for Mendoza and Santana, they drew 0–0 with Colombia and 1–1 with Chile. A highlight of the 1989 tournament was midfielder Carlos Maldonado's 4 goals. In the 1993 series, Venezuela drew with Uruguay and the United States.
The team's overall Copa América record has been pretty poor (goal difference 33–145 before 2011 Copa), but the "Auge Vinotinto" (Vinotinto Rise) period in the early 2000s brought increased attention to the sport in the country, which in turn brought increased support from both government and private institutions. Said support contributed greatly to the "Vinotinto's" rise in quality. In 2007, during the Copa América held in Venezuela, the team progressed to the quarterfinals for the first time in its history after finishing first in a group containing Peru, Bolivia and Uruguay. Venezuela's 2–0 victory over Perú during the competition was its first Copa América victory since 1967.
On June 6, 2008, Venezuela achieved its first-ever triumph over Brazil, defeating the Seleção 2–0 in a friendly match in Boston, USA.
At the 2011 Copa América championship, Venezuela reached the semifinals round for the first time by defeating Chile in the quarterfinal, 2–1. Despite their commanding presence against Paraguay in their semifinal, Venezuela were unable to convert their chances into goals. They would eventually lose 5–3 to Paraguay in a penalty shootout after remaining scoreless in normal and extra time. Venezuela and Peru played for 3rd Place of Copa America 2011 at Estadio Ciudad de La Plata. Venezuela would suffer their biggest loss of the tournament, losing 4–1 to Peru and falling into 4th place overall, but it was their best ever finish at the competition.
The following 24 players were selected for the Friendly matches to be played against USA in Glendale, Arizona, USA on January 21, 2012 and against Mexico in Houston, USA on January 25, 2012. Caps and goals updated as December 22, 2011.
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The following players have been called up to the Venezuela squad in the past 12 months.
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Below is a list of Venezuela managers from 1938 until the present day.[1]
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| Head coach: | César Farías |
| Assistant coach: | Marcos Matías |
| Goalkeeper coach: | César Baena |
| Fitness Coach: | Fabián Bazán |
| Head of Medical Department: | Dr. Gerardo Cañas |
| Psychologist: | Dr. Manuel Llorens |
| Kinesiologist: | Gerardo Gutiérrez |
| U20 and U17 coach: | Marcos Matías |
| Director: | Lino Alonso |
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA | |
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| 1930 to 1954 | Did not enter | ||||||||
| 1958 | Withdrew | ||||||||
| 1962 | Did not enter | ||||||||
| 1966 to 1970 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 1974 | Withdrew | ||||||||
| 1978 to 2010 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
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