TheColombia national football team (Spanish:Selección de fútbol de Colombia), nicknamedLos Cafeteros, representsColombia in men's internationalfootball and is managed by theFederación Colombiana de Fútbol (English:Colombian Football Federation), the governing body forfootball in Colombia. They are a member ofCONMEBOL and are ranked 13th in theFIFA World Rankings as of April 2025.[8] The team are nicknamedLos Cafeteros due to thecoffee production in the country. The national team has been a symbol of nationalism, pride and passion for many Colombians worldwide. Colombia is known for having a passionate fan base, and the team's dances during goal celebrations have been symbolic.[9][10]
In the 2014 edition held in Brazil, the team achieved its best World Cup performance, reaching the quarter-finals and placing fifth in the final standings.[12] Its greatest international achievement is winning theCopa América in2001 as hosts, during which the team set a record by winning every match without conceding a single goal. Colombia also finished runner-up in1975 and2024 and finished third five times: in1987,1993,1995,2016, and2021.
Furthermore, the team managed to make outstanding appearances at the continental level, obtaining from theCentral American and Caribbean Games the gold and bronze medals in1946 and1938 respectively,[13]
The development of football in Colombia is debated by many. Most historians agree that theCaribbean Region was the place where football spread. It is believed that its origins go back to 1900, by English railway engineers from The Colombia Railways Company.[14][15] TheColombian Football Federation was formed in 1924, initially under the name Liga de Fútbol, and became affiliated withFIFA andCONMEBOL in 1936.[14] Colombia played its first international match on 17 February 1926 againstCosta Rica at theJulio Torres Stadium inBarranquilla, achieving a 4–1 victory with a team that competed under the nameSelección Atlántico.[3][4]
In 1937, Colombia formed a national team for theJuegos del IV Centenario de Cali (Games of the IV Centenary of Cali).[16] Colombia played four matches at the recently opened Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero: againstMexico (3–1),Argentina (1–3),Ecuador (5–0), andCuba (1–3). Despite becoming a FIFA member in 1936, Colombia withdrew from the1938 FIFA World Cup inFrance. Instead, Colombia played at the1938 Central American and Caribbean Games. The Colombia national football team was composed mostly by all the players of theClub Juventud Bogotana (nowMillonarios).[17] Alfonso Novoa was the manager of Colombia until 23 February. The first game was played on 10 February 1938 against Mexico. Colombia was defeated 1–3; Luis Argüelles,Luis de la Fuente andHoracio Casarín scored for Mexico, while Marcos Mejía scored for Colombia. Colombia was able to obtain the bronze medal, with two wins and three losses. The same year, Colombia played at theI Bolivarian Games inBogotá, where they finished fourth with one win and three losses.Fernando Paternoster was the manager of Colombia, the side's first foreign manager.
Colombia did not play again until 1945 when they participated for the first time at theSouth American Championship, finishing in fifth place. This time, Colombia was composed by players ofJunior de Barranquilla except for Antonio de la Hoz (who played for Sporting de Barranquilla) andPedro Ricardo López (who played forBoca Juniors de Cali).[18]Roberto Meléndez was player and coach of Colombia throughout the tournament. The country withdrew from the1946 edition, and instead participated at the1946 Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla. There, they won the gold medal, after winning all six matches, and scoring 20 goals and conceding seven. The manager of Colombia in 1946 was the Peruvian José Arana Cruz.[19] The following year, Colombia played at the1947 South American Championship in Ecuador. The team was 8th, being the worst team of the tournament with just two draws obtained against Ecuador and Bolivia, and five defeats, scoring only 2 goals. The two goal scorers for Colombia at the tournament wereCarlos Arango, who scored in Colombia's 1–5 loss against Peru, and Rafael Granados who scored against Chile in Colombia's last fixture which they lost 1–4. The manager, Argentine Lino Taioli, was sacked just after the tournament ended.
Colombia's first match in the professional era was played on 6 April in the1949 South American Championship, a 3–0 defeat againstParaguay. Austrian coachFriedrich Donenfeld was the manager of Colombia during the tournament; he had moved with his family to Colombia due toWorld War II, and Atlético Junior would be his first team as a coach.[20] As Junior was chosen to represent Colombia in the tournament, he became the first European manager of the Colombia national team. The team, however, repeated their losing streak since, as in the previous tournament, by ending up eighth with two draws and five losses, scoring four goals. Colombia chose to not enter the qualification process for the1950 FIFA World Cup held inBrazil and also withdrew from theSouth American Championship in 1953. For the following World Cup in1954, Colombia was banned from participating due to the controversialEl Dorado era which witnessed the Colombian football league's breakaway from FIFA. Colombia also withdrew from the1955 and1956 editions of theSouth American Championship. In the1957 South American Championship in Peru, Colombia placed fifth, with two wins and four losses. In this tournament, Colombia suffered their biggest defeat in team history, a 9–0 loss againstBrazil. Colombia made their first appearance in World Cup qualifying for the1958 tournament in Sweden. Their first match was on 16 June 1957 againstUruguay in Bogotá, which ended in a 1–1 draw. Colombia lost several matches, leaving them at the bottom of the group, thus failing to qualify.
Under Argentine coachAdolfo Pedernera, Colombia qualified for the1962 FIFA World Cup, its first-ever World Cup, by eliminatingPeru. The first match was played in Bogotá and ended 1–0 in favour of Colombia with a goal fromEusebio Escobar. For the following game in Lima, Peru managed to draw on aggregate with the help of a penalty in the third minute of the match, however,Héctor González scored in the 68th minute of the second half to help Colombia win 2–1 on aggregate.
At the 1962 World Cup, Colombia was drawn into a group containing Uruguay,UEFA Euro 1960 championsSoviet Union, andYugoslavia. Colombia lost its first match 2–1 against Uruguay.Francisco Zuluaga scored a 19th-minute penalty goal for Colombia to give the nation their first-ever World Cup goal, andLuis Cubilla and Jorge Sasía scored for Uruguay in the 56th and 75th minute, respectively. In the second match, they earned a 4–4 draw with the USSR, withAmérica de Cali midfielderMarcos Coll scoring the onlyolympic goal in World Cup history so far.[citation needed] Colombia's 1962 campaign ended with a 5–0 defeat against Yugoslavia, who eventually finished fourth place.
First Copa América final and unsuccessful World Cup qualification campaigns (1963–1979)
Efraín Sánchez, who captained Colombia at the 1962 World Cup, went on to coach his country to its first major final at the1975 Copa América
After withdrawing from the two editions of the 1959 South American Championship inArgentina andEcuador, Colombia participated in the1963 South American Championship in Bolivia. Colombia finished last in the tournament with a draw and five defeats. For the1966 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Colombia was placed in a group againstEcuador andChile. The team finished in the bottom of their group with two points, with their only win being a 2–0 victory over Chile in Bogotá. The following year, Colombia had to qualify for the1967 South American Championship by playing the same opponent, but was eliminated with a 5–2 defeat inSantiago and a goalless draw in Bogotá.
Colombia participated for qualifying for the1970 World Cup in Group 2, withBrazil,Paraguay andVenezuela. After one win, one draw and four defeats, Colombia failed to qualify, but played againstEngland in a pre-World Cup friendly. England beat Colombia 4–0, but their victory was overshadowed by theBogotá Bracelet incident.[citation needed]
At the1975 Copa America, Colombia was placed in Group C with Paraguay and Ecuador. Colombia won all four games to advance to the semifinals against Uruguay. Colombia won 3–0 at home and lost 1–0 away, but the aggregate score allowed them to advance to the final for the first time in their history, where they facedPeru. Colombia won at home 1–0, but lost 2–0 away, so the champion was decided on neutral ground (inCaracas) where Peru beat Colombia with a 25th-minute goal fromHugo Sotil.
1980s: dawn of the Golden Generation and World Cup qualification
Prior to the 1980s, the Colombia national football team was widely recognized as a weak team, and lack of fans, due to neglected investment for the national team by the Colombian Football Federation, national tragedies likeLa Violencia, and widespread criminal activities that destabilized the country. Their lack of participation also added to this sporadic support, and despite having qualified for the 1962 FIFA World Cup, the national team remained as underachievers.[21]
Colombia failed to qualify for the1982 World Cup, and exited in the first round in the1983 Copa América, before being drawn intoGroup 1 for the1986 World Cup qualifiers along with Argentina, Peru, and Venezuela. The team began their qualification campaign with a 1–0 win against Peru with a goal fromMiguel Prince. However, Colombia suffered a 1–3 home defeat to Argentina in the following fixture. After drawing Peru in the third fixture, Colombia fell 1–0 away to Argentina, but then recovered with a 2–2 draw and a 2–0 win against Venezuela. Colombia ultimately qualified for the play-offs against Paraguay, however, the team failed to qualify after losing 2–4 on aggregate.
Placed in Group C in the1987 Copa América with Bolivia and Paraguay, Colombia advanced from the group to meet Chile in the semi-finals, with the former scoring a 103rd-minuteBernardo Redín penalty. However, Chile would ultimately score two goals to eliminate Colombia. South America was allocated three-and-a-half berths for the1990 World Cup. Argentina qualified for the tournament in Italy as1986 winners, and the nine remaining teams were split into three groups with the two automatic qualifying berths going to the two best group winners. The group winner with the worst record would advance to theCONMEBOL–OFC play-off; Colombia faced theOceania World Cup qualifying winners, who wereIsrael, after they finished ahead ofAustralia andNew Zealand. Colombia qualified for their first FIFA World Cup since 1962 after winning 1–0 over two legs.[citation needed]
Francisco Maturana is Colombia's most renowned domestic manager, who guided Colombia to two World Cup qualifications in1990 and1994, and led them to their first Copa América title in2001.
1990s: World Cup return, and the first Colombian Golden Era
At the1990 World Cup, Colombia was once again drawn with the Yugoslavs, alongsideUnited Arab Emirates and powerhouseWest Germany. Colombia faced the United Arab Emirates at theStadio Renato Dall'Ara inBologna, where they won 2–0 with goals from Bernardo Redín and Carlos Valderrama to achieve Colombia's first-ever win at the World Cup finals. Although losing their second game against Yugoslavia 1–0, Colombia achieved qualification to the round of 16 after a historic 1–1 draw with eventual champions West Germany, whereFreddy Rincón equalized the game for Colombia in the 93rd minute after West Germany's initial goal five minutes earlier.[22][23] Colombia finished the group stage in third place with three points, and placing as the second-best third-placed teams. However, Colombia would be eliminated in their next match againstCameroon with a 2–1 defeat in extra time, after a mistake from Colombian goalkeeperRené Higuita.[24][25] Shortly after the defeat, Maturana left his post as Colombia manager. However, this World Cup appearance marked the rise of a generation known as the first Colombian golden generation.[26]
Carlos Valderrama (pictured in 2016) served as the team's captain during the 1990s, and represented Colombia at five Copa América tournaments and three World Cups.
With Carlos Valderrama as captain during the1993 Copa América, Colombia reached the semifinals, where they lost to Argentina on penalties. They won the third place match against Ecuador to finish third for the second time in their history.
Colombia finished first in their1994 World Cupqualifying group without having lost a match, which included a historic5–0 victory over Argentina inBuenos Aires.[27] A few days before the match,Diego Maradona launched a phrase during a television interview, while putting palms of the hands parallel to the ground at chest height, one above the other, said "You can't change history, history shouldn't be changed: Argentina up, Colombia down."[28]
Expectations of the team were high, some even naming them as favorites to win the tournament, as they had only lost one official match over a two-year period from July 1992 going into the World Cup.[citation needed] Colombia was drawn inGroup A with the hostsUnited States,Romania, andSwitzerland. Colombia only earned one win over Switzerland and suffered two losses, which would eliminate them in the group stage. The first match against Romania ended with a 3–1 defeat which notoriously angered Colombiandrug cartels who had previously bet money on Colombia to win the match, which resulted in variousdeath threats made to relatives of the Colombian players and manager Maturana.[29][30] During the match against the United States,Andrés Escobar scored an own goal, leading to Colombia's elimination as they lost 2–1. Escobar was later murdered in Colombia a few days after the own goal, and this incident would lead to the demise of Colombia's first golden generation.[31][32][33]
Hernán Darío Gómez (also known asEl Bolillo orTheBaton in English) served as Colombia manager from 1995 to 1998 and helped to qualify and coach the team for the1998 World Cup.
At the1995 Copa América, the team achieved a third-place finish after winning a rematch against the United States, 4–1, in the third-place match.Two years later, in Bolivia, the Colombians lost to the hosts in the quarterfinals.[34]
Apart from Valderrama,Freddy Rincón is the only member of the first Golden Generation who represented Colombia at all three FIFA World Cups in the 1990s.
Colombia finished third in1998 World Cup qualifying with 28 points to qualify for the finals inFrance. They would eventually be placed intoGroup G withTunisia,England, Romania. Romania won the opening game 1–0, while Colombia sealed a 1–0 victory over Tunisia in the second game. In order to advance to the next round, Colombia needed to win their last game against England, however,The Three Lions defeated Colombia 2–0 with goals from midfielderDarren Anderton, and a youngDavid Beckham, who scored his first goal for England from afree kick, thus ending Colombia's tournament hopes.[35][36]
Colombia finished first in their group at the1999 Copa América after winning all of their matches; however, the team's tournament fell short after a 3–2 loss against Chile in the quarter-finals.[37]
2000s: First Copa América title and temporary decline
In2000, Colombia participated in their firstCONCACAF Gold Cup, hosted in the United States. Achieving a 1–0 win againstJamaica, Colombia lost their next match againstHonduras 2–0. They then played the hosts, who scored first with a 20th-minute goal fromBrian McBride, but Colombia equalized four minutes later. Colombia eliminated the U.S. on penalties 2–1. In the semi-finals, the team beat Peru 2–1. Colombia facedCanada in the final, and lost 2–0.
Colombia hosted their first Copa América in2001. Prior to the tournament, meetings were held byCONMEBOL authorities who were concerned about potential security issues, and the tournament was canceled on 1 July, just ten days before the opening match.[38] On 6 July, CONMEBOL decided to reinstate the tournament. Canada had already disbanded its training camp and released its players, soCosta Rica (aCONCACAF invitee) was invited to the tournament.Argentina decided to withdraw from the competition on 10 July despite the Colombian authorities' proposal to take additional safety precautions,[38] as the Argentine Football Association had complained about the abrupt change and claimed that Argentine players had received death threats from terrorist groups.
GoalkeeperÓscar Córdoba was awarded best goalkeeper at the 2001 Copa América after conceding no goals.
On 11 July, Colombia began the tournament with a 2–0 victory against Venezuela in at the Estadio Metropolitano of Barranquilla, a location that would serve as Colombia's home field throughout the group stage. The following match against Ecuador ended in a 1–0 victory for Colombia, who then defeated Chile in their last match 2–0 with goals from Aristizábal, andEudalio Arriaga. The hosts eliminated Peru in the quarter-finals, and defeated Honduras 2–0 in the semi-finals. Colombia won their first Copa América title by defeatingMexico, another CONCACAF invitee, inthe final with a goal from captainIván Córdoba in the second half. The team became the first to not concede a goal at the Copa América.[39][40] The team won the fair play award as well. GoalkeeperÓscar Córdoba was awarded best goalkeeper.[41]
For the2002 World Cup, Colombia only managed to place sixth in thequalification round, tied with Uruguay but failing to qualify due to goal difference. This was the first time that Colombia had failed to qualify for a World Cup since 1986.
However, as the team won the 2001 Copa América, Colombia played in the2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, inGroup A alongsideEuro 2000 champions and hostsFrance,Japan, andNew Zealand. In their opening game against France, Colombia lost 1–0 following a sole goal product of a penalty scored byThierry Henry. Colombia then defeated New Zealand and Japan to reach the semi-finals, where they lost 1–0 against Cameroon. The team eventually finished fourth after losing toTurkey.
The2004 Copa América saw Colombia lose to Argentina in the semi-finals, finishing fourth. Colombia also participated in the2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup, with high expectations.[42] They defeated Mexico in the quarter-finals,[43] and lost toPanama in a semi-final that was a group stage rematch.[44]
For the2006 World Cup, Colombia was ultimately unsuccessful in their qualifying campaign, missing out by a single point due to Uruguay's win over Argentina in the final fixture. Had Uruguay and Argentina drawn, Colombia would have qualified to the playoff spot with their 1–0 away win over Paraguay, as they had superior goal difference to Uruguay as well.[citation needed]
Colombia had one of their worstCopa América performances in 2007. The team finished third in the group with just one win against the United States and two losses, including a 5–0 loss to Paraguay, which wasn't enough to qualify for the knockout stages.[45][46] Colombia ended the decade with an unsuccessful2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, mainly as a result of constantly changing formations and a dysfunctional rotation of managers which saw Pinto replaced byEduardo Lara after a 4–0 loss to Chile in September 2008,[47] combined with the struggle to score in the last games of qualification.[48][49]
The Pékerman Era: revival and a new Golden Generation (2011–2018)
In the2011 Copa América, Colombia topped their group and were eliminated in a 2–0 loss againstPeru in extra time in the quarterfinals.Los Cafeteros ended 2011 at 36th in the FIFA rankings, up from 54th earlier in the year.[citation needed]
In October 2012, Colombia moved back into the top 10 of the FIFA Rankings for the first time since July 2002, after wins against Mexico inMiami, Chile (3–1) and Uruguay (4–0). The team climbed to 9th place,[50] and were 5th at the end of the year.[51]
Since hiringJosé Pékerman in January 2012,[52] the squad would break a personal qualifying best record by finishing in second with 30 points, appearing in the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Many neutrals hailed Colombia as a dark horse World Cup contender,[53][54][55] with players such as Carlos Valderrama stating that the team that could become the most successful Colombian squad in history.[54][55] Throughout the qualification process, Colombia only conceded 12 goals, which was the second-best defensive record behind Argentina.[53]
Even though the team's record goalscorerRadamel Falcao missed the tournament through injury, Colombia topped off their return in the2014 World Cup after a 16-year absence by defeatingGreece 3–0.[56] Colombia then sealed a 2–1 victory over theIvory Coast to clinch Group C's top spot days later.[57] On the same day,Japan and Greece drew 0–0 and automatically qualified Colombia to the round of 16 for the first time in 24 years.[58] In its final group stage game, Colombia defeated Japan 4–1 to win Group C and become the third South American team (following Brazil and Argentina) to win all three group stage games in World Cup history. Colombia went on to defeat Uruguay 2–0 on 28 June in the round of 16, securing a spot in the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.[59] They then fell to hostsBrazil 2–1 in the quarter-finals.[60] James Rodríguez became the first Colombian player to win the Golden Boot award at a FIFA World Cup tournament with six goals.[61] He later won the FIFAPuskás Award for the best goal of the year for his second goal against Uruguay in the round of 16.[62]
Colombia had a disappointing2015 Copa América, having won only a single game during the group stage match against Brazil, with their only goal of the tournament. Colombia would be eliminated byArgentina in the next round via a penalty shootout, ending their campaign with one win, two draws, and one loss. The following year, Colombia began their 2016Copa América Centenario campaign with a 2–0 victory against hostsUnited States.[63] They then sealed their qualification to the quarter-finals with a 2–1 victory against Paraguay, but finished their group campaign with a defeat to Costa Rica.[64][65] On 17 June, they advanced to the semi-finals with a win against Peru on penalties.[66] Colombia would then lose to eventual tournament winners Chile before winning the third place match against the hosts United States to seal their best result since winning the 2001 edition.[67]
Yerry Mina scoring Colombia's equalizing goal againstEngland at the2018 World CupBefore his departure succeeding Russia 2018, Argentine managerJosé Pékerman oversaw the national team of Colombia in both the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups, guiding them to their greatest performance in 2014 and their first World Cup qualifying in 16 years.
Colombia qualified for the2018 FIFA World Cup by finishing fourth in CONMEBOL.[68] The team began their campaign with a 2–1 defeat to Japan.[69][70][71] Colombia resurrected their hopes of advancing from the group with a 3–0 win over Poland.[72] On 28 June, Colombia beatSenegal by a scoreline of 1–0,topping their group and advancing into theround of 16.[73] On 3 July in Moscow, Colombia were knocked out byEngland in the round of 16; the game finished 1–1 after extra time, with England winning 4–3 on penalties.[74]
Starting off their2019 Copa América campaign, Colombia defeatedArgentina in a 2–0 win, marking their first victory over theLa Albiceleste since 2007.[75] Days later, they would faceAsian Cup championsQatar, and would beat them 1–0 to advance to the next round before finishing the group with a 1–0 victory overParaguay, finishing with nine points with four goals scored and none conceded throughout the group stage.[76][77][78] Colombia also became the only team since the2001 edition to advance out of the group stage with a 100% record.[79] Despite this, Colombia were then eliminated by Chile in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals.[80]
Colombia began the2022 World Cup qualifiers with wins against Venezuela and Chile. However, when matches resumed following theCOVID-19 pandemic, Colombia's performances declined, including their worst home loss in 82 years against Uruguay and a 6–1 defeat versus Ecuador.[81] This led to the end of Carlos Queiroz's tenure as Colombia's coach in December 2020.[82] On 14 January 2021, theColombian Football Federation announcedReinaldo Rueda's return to the national team.
GoalkeeperDavid Ospina became Colombia's most capped player in history during Colombia's quarter-final victory against Uruguay at the2021 Copa América, reaching 112 appearances.
In the2021 Copa América, Colombia won their opening match against Ecuador, before playing out a goalless draw with Venezuela.[83][84] In their third match gainst Peru, Colombia lost 2–1.[85] Next, Colombia lost to Brazil, leaving them in third position but meant they had qualified for the quarter-finals. They progressed to the semi-finals after a penalty shootout victory against Uruguay following a goalless draw.[86] In the semi-finals, Colombia contested with Argentina, where they drew 1–1 before losing on penalties.[87] Colombia managed to win the match for third place against Peru, with the score 3–2,[88] where the last two goals thatLuis Díaz scored along with one in the final 93rd minute of the game made him the top scorer of the Copa América, along withLionel Messi. The third-place victory for Colombia marks their best result since also winning third place in theCopa América Centenario.
After the Copa América, Colombia resumed their 2022 qualification campaign. During qualification, Colombia went seven matches without scoring, harming their chances of qualifying. They defeatedVenezuela 1–0, but results elsewhere left Colombia in sixth position, missing out on the World Cup finals. Rueda left his post as the Colombian team manager shortly after.[89]
TheColombian Football Federation announced on 2 June 2022, that it had picked Néstor Lorenzo to replace Rueda as coach of the men's national team for the next four years.[90] On 28 February 2023, the federation launched an innovative project called "Futbol con Futuro" (Football with a Future) with the support of FIFA. The plan covers 2022 to 2025 and aims to innovate as well as reinforce the modus operandi of all the country's national teams so they can achieve success. "To achieve results on the pitch and enable Colombia to win trophies," said Colombian Football Association (FCF) Development Director Ivan Novella, setting out the ambitious objectives of Futbol con Futuro.[91]
Up until theCopa América final loss in extra time to Argentina on 14 July 2024, Colombia had gone 28 games undefeated under Lorenzo, which included wins overGermany, Brazil andSpain.[92] In September 2025, Colombia qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, their seventh World Cup, after finishing third in CONMEBOL qualifying.[93]
Colombia's main geopolitical rival has always beenVenezuela. However, the rivalry is historically very one-sided for Colombia. This state of affairs started to change from the late 1990s, when football slowly began replacingbaseball as Venezuela's main sport.[94]
In 2001, coach Luis Garcia was sacked for only managing a draw in an away game inSan Cristóbal which ended 2–2. Four years later in the2006 World Cup qualifiers, Venezuela stunned the continent by defeating Colombia in Barranquilla 0–1. Former captain Valderrama called the match a"classic" and stated"Venezuela kill themselves[do their best] playing against us."[95]
Players from Colombia and Argentina debating over a play during a match for the2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on 1 February 2022
The Colombian–Argentine rivalry is more based on "respect" than a "hated" relationship, always attracting great interest between both nations.[96]
The 5–0 win against Argentina in the1994 World Cup qualifiers was the first time Argentina lost in its home stadiumEstadio Monumental during a World Cup qualifier. In the group stage of the1999 Copa América, Colombia won 3–0 with Argentine strikerMartin Palermo missing three penalty kicks.[97]
Tensions flourished again in 2021 after the semi-finals of theCopa América, a match which ended in a defeat for Colombia after the penalty shootout whenEmiliano Martínez, the Argentine goalkeeper, utilized provocative gestures and phrases to distract the Colombian players, which were broadcast on live television.[citation needed] In 2024, the two nations met in the final of theCopa América which resulted in a 1–0 extra-time win for Argentina.
Although the head-to-head record showcases a one-sided advantage for Colombia, the increase of the footballing level in the neighboring nation ofEcuador during recent years has ended in close matches between the two teams. After Colombia was unable to obtain more than one point from six possible during the2022 qualifiers (when the side often obtained four or six points from the encounters), including a historic 6–1 defeat against Ecuador in 2020, media began calling the match the new classic of the region, citing its potential for continuing to bring close matches with no clear favorites added to a new competitive atmosphere between both teams.
Colombia plays their qualifying matches and friendlies at theEstadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez inBarranquilla, which is the home stadium of the local football teamAtlético Junior. The stadium is named after former Colombia national team playerRoberto Meléndez, who is widely considered to be Colombia's best player during Colombia's amateur era in the 1930s and 1940s. The stadium was used for all of Colombia's successful World Cup qualifying campaigns since 1990.
Traditionally, Colombia's home colours are yellow shirts with navy trim and navy or white shorts and socks, with their away colours being normally navy shirts. They wore their first ever red kit at the2014 FIFA World Cup. Colombia used red as their home colours in the 20th century, although inCopa América Centenario the team played in an all-white kit for the first time in their history, before reverting to the yellow and navy kit thereafter.
^abAndrés, Juan Pablo (18 July 2013)."Colombia – List of Champions and Runners-Up".Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Juan Pablo Andrés and RSSSF.Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved15 November 2013.
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