Bolivia are back at the FIFA U-17 World Cup™ after a 38-year absence, and attacker Santos Garcia is “raring to go” at the showpiece finals.
The teenager played a key role in getting his team to Qatar 2025. In the decisive seventh-place play‑off against Ecuador at the South American U-17 Championship – a head-to-head match that would determine who would qualify for this year’s edition of the U-17 World Cup – Garcia registered the only goal of the contest to send his team to the global finals.
Bolivia will do battle with host nation Qatar, Italy and South Africa at the expanded 48-team tournament, which gets under way on 3 November. In an exclusive interview with FIFA, Garcia speak about what qualification means for his country and his personal ambitions.
Santos García: To be honest, the South American Championship really taught me a lot, mainly in terms of the physicality. The games were very physically challenging. I thought it was great because it helps me to keep working hard, as I know what to expect from those matches.
Yes, we were pretty nervous going into that match, but we also had complete confidence in our ability to win, because we’d already come up against them in the group stage [a 2-1 loss] and saw how we could give them a run for their money. We did adopt a more defensive approach, but that was because we knew that was our best chance of winning: waiting for our chance to hit them on the counter-attack. That’s exactly how it played out, and it worked out well for us.
When I scored, I honestly couldn’t believe it. It was something I’d been striving for, something I’d dreamed of. I felt happy and proud like never before to have notched the goal that took my country to the World Cup. I’m happy for my family and my team-mates, because I know that goal wasn’t just for me, it was for them too. They fought hard and pushed themselves to the limit on the pitch.
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Before the tournament, we all said it’d be difficult, but we kept our hopes up because there were seven places up for grabs, which we really had to take advantage of – it was a once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity. We talked positively about how we could qualify. It wasn’t pressure, but rather motivation that we could take our country to the World Cup.
We’re proud, delighted and raring to go for what lies ahead.
Of course. I’m working on my weaker foot at the moment. At the end of training, I go for a bit of a kickabout, do some passing and get to work. I also work on my weaker foot at [club side] Bolivar. When I’m there, they get me to do all kinds of drills: shooting, passing and control.
It’s a big deal. Younger generations can see that we were able to qualify for the World Cup, so they will work hard and set their minds on replicating that feat because Bolivia truly is capable of it if we give it our all.
We’re hopeful and will keep getting behind the senior national team because we want them to qualify. We always support them and they’ve already shown they can do it. God willing, everything will go well and we’ll book our place.
