In October 2017, the federation confirmed that the Basque team would not play a friendly in late December that year as had become traditional (for reasons including scheduling difficulties, credibility in the football community and a noted decline in attendances at the festive matches), but instead would look to schedule a fixture during one of the FIFA International Match Calendar dates, possibly in March 2018. However, a proposed meeting with Chile did not come to pass. Eventually, a fixture was arranged for the Basque team to face Venezuela in October 2018 at Mendizorroza, which they won 4–2.