Venezuela Fires Coach Batista for Failing to Qualify for World Cup 

Venezuela have parted ways with head coach Fernando Batista following the national team’s humiliating 6-3 home defeat to Colombia, which ended their dream of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in history.

The Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) confirmed the dismissal of the Argentine coach and his entire backroom staff on Wednesday night, just hours after President Nicolás Maduro publicly demanded sweeping changes to the national team’s technical setup.

“Yesterday we suffered a painful defeat,” Maduro said in a televised address. “We must carry out a restructuring of the technical staff to give our players a new direction and restore the faith of the nation.”

Batista, 54, who took charge of the Vinotinto in 2023 after previously serving as an assistant, had overseen a mixed qualification campaign that at times raised hopes of breaking the country’s long-standing absence from the World Cup stage.

But the heavy loss to Colombia proved decisive, leaving Venezuela mathematically out of contention.

The defeat was especially crushing as the Vinotinto had been tipped as potential dark horses in the qualifiers, buoyed by the emergence of several promising players in Europe’s top leagues.

Local media reports suggest the FVF will move quickly to appoint an interim coach ahead of upcoming friendlies, while a long-term successor will be sought to rebuild the team before the next qualification cycle.

Venezuela remain the only South American nation never to have qualified for a FIFA World Cup, a drought that continues despite decades of investment in player development and football infrastructure.