20th century Venezuela did not participate in
FIFA World Cup qualification 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 1960s and 1970s, outstanding players like
Luis Mendoza and
Rafael Santana achieved recognition. Venezuela also managed to qualify for the
1980 Summer Olympics around this time, the first-ever major international football competition they participated in.
Richard Páez era After
José Omar Pastoriza's resignation during the
2002 World Cup qualifying campaign,
Richard Páez took over as head coach of the national team. In their remaining qualifiers, Venezuela achieved 4 victories in a row against
Uruguay,
Chile,
Peru, and
Paraguay; in terms of World Cup qualifying matches, this was the first time the team won more than one game in row, the first time they won away from home, and the first time they avoided finishing in last place in their entire history. The team nevertheless failed to qualify for the
2002 World Cup, or the
2006 World Cup, gaining 16 and 18 points respectively. However, the team did achieve progression to the second round of the
2007 Copa America on home soil. In November 2007, Páez resigned after disagreements with the media and supporters.
César Farías era With a new coach
César Farías, Venezuela national team improved their performances. At the beginning of
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Venezuela won its first game in World Cup qualifying against long unbeaten Ecuador in
Quito. Something similar happened to Bolivia in
La Paz, where Venezuela won for the first time at Bolivian altitude. Also, they received their first point against
Brazil in qualifying. Despite not ultimately reaching the 2010 World Cup, Venezuela achieved its best result in qualifying. They finished this round with 22 points in 18 matches, surpassing Peru and Bolivia for eighth place in the region. On 6 June 2008, Venezuela achieved its first-ever triumph over Brazil, defeating the
Seleção 2–0 in a friendly match in
Boston, United States. Venezuela obtained excellent results in the
2011 Copa América when they finished fourth, their highest finish in the tournament to date. With a squad composed mostly of players playing in Europe, they began
2014 World Cup qualification with a historic result (1–0) against Argentina in
Puerto La Cruz, beating the Argentines for the first time.
Noel Sanvicente era (in white) and Venezuela (in burgundy). On 4 September 2014,
Noel Sanvicente was made coach of the Venezuela national team. The team's first match under Sanvicente was against
South Korea in
Bucheon on 5 September 2014, ending in a 3–1 defeat. Sanvicente's first tournament came in the
2015 Copa América, with Venezuela drawn in
Group C of the competition. Their opening game finished with an upset victory over tournament favorites
Colombia by 1–0, but subsequent defeats to Peru and Brazil saw
La Vinotinto eliminated. Venezuela began the
World Cup qualification campaign with a 1–0 defeat against
Paraguay at home, and would not earn their first point until their match against Peru, a 2–2 draw in
Lima where Venezuela led until the last minute of stoppage time. Their match with Chile ended in a disappointing 4–1 defeat. Sanvicente announced his resignation a week later after mutual consent with the FVF. At the time of Sanvicente's departure, Venezuela was last in the qualification standings with a sole point.
Rafael Dudamel era Sanvicente was replaced by former Vinotinto goalkeeper
Rafael Dudamel, who decided to revamp the entire national team, by injecting the team with the promising young generation of Venezuelan players that finished second at the
2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup that was dubbed as the country's first-ever football Golden Generation. Under his coaching,
La Vinotinto quickly improved and reached the quarterfinals in the
Copa América Centenario, with two 1–0 wins over
Jamaica and Uruguay and a 1–1 draw against
Mexico in the group stage and then a 4–1 defeat to Argentina in the quarter-finals. In the 7th matchday of the 2018 World Cup qualifier, Venezuela lost to Colombia 2–0 in
Barranquilla, the first loss against
Los Cafeteros since 2009. Later, on matchday 11, Venezuela won for the first time in the qualifier, 5–0 over
Bolivia in
Maturín with a hat-trick from
Josef Martínez and goals from
Jacobo Kouffati and
Rómulo Otero. On 2 January 2020, Dudamel resigned from the national team. ==Copa América history==