Morales: I want this for my Bolivia team-mates
Bolivia's USA-born defensive anchor speaks with FIFA about what World Cup qualification would mean to the South American country.
The legacy of Bolivia’s 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™ campaign lives on in many ways. While it remains the last time the South American nation played in the global finals, its impact on soccer in the USA is beyond reproach. Two of its heralded members, Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno, were among the first stars of Major League Soccer (MLS), formed in 1996, helping grow the game in the North American country.
More than thirty years later, Bolivia are just two wins away from returning to a FIFA World Cup™ in the USA, with only Suriname and Iraq in the FIFA Play-Off Tournament standing in their way.
Fittingly, a player born and raised in the US has played a key role in Bolivia’s Play-Off arrival. CF Montreal’s Efrain Morales, a 22-year-old defender from Decatur, Georgia, and son of a Bolivian father, featured in eight CONMEBOL qualifiers since his November 2024 debut against Ecuador, including the dramatic 1-0 triumph over mighty Brazil on the final matchday last September.
Trying to get Bolivia to their first World Cup in 32 years is a lot to absorb for someone who did not even grow up in the country, but Morales tells FIFA that the passion and support shown by fans is giving him all the motivation he needs.
Efrain Morales: Healthy, which is the most important. I got surgery last offseason and I've been kind of dealing with that while getting back into shape. I'm starting to feel really good. It still bothers me a little bit here and there, but I feel like I've been able to get over the worst part of it.
It'll be a good match. A few guys on the team here at Montreal, like Olger Escobar of Guatemala, have played against Suriname and he tells me a little bit about them. They have quality and they have some good attacking pieces, but I feel like it's going to be two pretty distinctive styles of soccer.
Some people look at it like it's a good break and lets us regroup, but also that you've been away from playing a high-level of competition for a long time... I obviously haven't been part of the Bolivia team lately because I've been coming back from surgery, but they've had other high-level games around the world, so I don't necessarily think it'll be that difficult. We'll be ready.
I'm Bolivian and I have those cultural roots, but I was born and raised here in the U.S., so being able to play against Brazil in South America and seeing the passion, culture and love for the game over there is very unique and different from that of the U.S. I didn't really understand how serious it was until we actually ended up winning. You could see the reactions of everyone and the whole city itself. It went on full shutdown. And that's not even making the World Cup; that's just making it to the play-offs, so I can't even imagine if it were to go to the World Cup.
Guys like [Carlos] Lampe, [Luis] Haquin and a few other guys, they know more than anyone else the struggles that the federation has been through and the struggles that Bolivia itself has had. To have gone through that for pretty much the majority of their careers, 10-plus years, and then be able to finally get somewhere, it definitely means a lot more for them than it does to me. That’s not to say that it doesn't mean anything for me, but for them, I can only imagine.
From a country standpoint, I think we all know what sports can do for a nation as a whole, especially for teams like Bolivia, who aren't necessarily in the best economic condition. Achievements like that could really put Bolivia on display and help in so many different aspects that a lot of people don't realise.
It's obviously the dream of every soccer player and it would mean the world to me on a personal level. But at this point, I'm almost forgoing my personal dreams and doing it more for the country itself. I've seen how these types of wins, these types of tournaments can impact the country. When I put on that jersey, I want to do it more for them than myself.
You talk about the guys who played in that, they're legends, essentially, and that's just hopefully something that we can recreate today.
I personally think so. I might be a little bit biased. You see almost 40,000-50,000 attendance per game for an Atlanta United game, so I can't even imagine what it would be for a World Cup. We have the stadium and we have a lot that could bring value to anyone who's going to be there. It'll be really good.
I've probably only been in Montreal for maybe five weeks since I got traded six months ago, but the little I've been there, it's beautiful. I'm happy to be part of a new team. You get to see different dynamics, different types of players. I'm learning a lot from a soccer perspective, because you get to see how different captains work, you get to see how different organizations work from top to bottom. I think I'll learn a lot over the next few years.