Colombian national soccer team / world championships

Colombia
República de Colombia

World Cup record goalscorer:	James Rodríguez (6)
World Cup record players:	Freddy Rincon (16) Carlos Valderrama (16)
Rank :	25th
Organizer:	1986 (canceled) Substitute host: Mexico
Balance sheet
22 World Cup games 9 wins 3 draws 10 defeats 35:34 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Colombia 1-2 Uruguay Arica ( CHI ); May 30, 1962
Biggest World Cup victories Colombia 3-0 Greece Belo Horizonte ( BRA ); June 14, 2014 Colombia 4-1 Japan Cuiabá ( BRA ); June 24, 2014 Colombia 3-0 Poland Kazan ( RUS ); June 24, 2018
Biggest World Cup defeat Colombia 0: 5 Yugoslavia Arica ( CHI ); June 7, 1962
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	6 ( first : 1962 )
Best results	Quarterfinals, 2014
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of July 3, 2018 )

The article contains a detailed description of the Colombian national soccer team at soccer world championships . The Colombians have so far participated in world championships five times. The best result is reaching the quarter-finals in 2014, in which they were eliminated by hosts Brazil, but with James Rodríguez the top scorer. The team was able to qualify again for 2018.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated				Not a FIFA member
1934	Italy	not participated				Not a FIFA member
1938	France	withdrawn
1950	Brazil	not participated
1954	Switzerland	not participated
1958	Sweden	not qualified				In the qualification of Paraguay failed
1962	Chile	Preliminary round	Uruguay , USSR , Yugoslavia	14th	Adolfo Pedernera	The 4: 4 against the Soviet Union is the highest-scoring draw within normal playing time.
1966	England	not qualified				In the qualification of Chile failed
1970	Mexico	not qualified				In qualifying at eventual champions Brazil failed
1974	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification of Uruguay failed
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualification of Brazil failed
1982	Spain	not qualified				In the qualification of Peru failed
1986	Mexico	not qualified				In qualifying at eventual champions Argentina failed
1990	Italy	Round of 16	Cameroon	14th	Francisco Maturana	Defeat in extra time
1994	United States	Preliminary round	Romania , USA , Switzerland	19th	Francisco Maturana	Colombia was eliminated as the bottom of the group. Andrés Escobar , an own goal scorer against the US, was shot dead in front of a bar in Medellín shortly afterwards .
1998	France	Preliminary round	Romania , Tunisia , England	21st	Hernán Darío Gómez
2002	South Korea / Japan	not qualified				In the South America qualification , Colombia only finished 6th. The top four, including the eventual world champions Brazil, qualified directly, while Uruguay qualified fifth in the play-offs against Australia .
2006	Germany	not qualified				In the South American qualification , which was again played in the league system between all South American teams, Colombia again only finished 6th. The top four qualified directly, Uruguay in fifth failed this time in the play-offs against Australia .
2010	South Africa	not qualified				In the South American qualification , which was again played in the league system between all South American teams, Colombia only finished 7th. The top four qualified directly, Uruguay came fifth in the play-offs against Costa Rica .
2014	Brazil	Quarter finals	Brazil	5.	José Pekerman	In the South American qualification , which was again played in the league system between all South American teams (except Brazil), Colombia qualified prematurely on October 11, 2013 by beating Chile 3: 3. After three wins in the group stage, Colombia beat Uruguay 2-0 in the round of 16, but lost 2-1 to Brazil in the quarter-finals.
2018	Russia	Round of 16	England	9.	José Pekerman	In the South American qualification , which was again played in the league system between all South American teams, Colombia qualified fourth, ahead of Peru, which had to go into the play-offs. After two wins and one defeat in the group stage, Colombia lost to England 4-5 on penalties in the round of 16.

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• No participation: 5 × (24%; 1930 to 1954)
• Unqualified: 10 × (48%; 1958, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 2002, 2006 and 2010)
• Sports qualification: 6 × (29% or 38% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: 3 × (14%; 1962, 1994 and 1998)
  • Round of 16: 2 × (10%; 1990 and 2018)
  • Quarter-finals: 1 × (5%; 2014)

1930 to 1954

The Federación Colombiana de Fútbol was founded in 1924, but did not join FIFA until 1936 and was unable to take part in the first two World Cup tournaments. Colombia initially reported for 1938 , but then waived, as did Costa Rica, Mexico, El Salvador and Dutch Guiana, which had been drawn to them. No registrations were made for 1950 and 1954.

1958 in Sweden

The Colombian team then wanted to qualify for the first time for the 1958 World Cup and had to play against Paraguay and Uruguay . On July 16, 1957, the Colombians played their first World Cup qualifying match in Bogotá and scored 1-1 against Uruguay. At this point it stayed, because the other three games were lost, so that Colombia could not qualify as group third.

1962 in Chile

Things went better four years later in qualifying for the World Cup in Chile . On April 30, 1961 succeeded with a 1-0 against Peru in Bogotá, the first victory in a World Cup qualifier. A 1-1 draw in the second leg in Lima was enough for the first World Cup participation.

In Chile, the Colombians met ex-world champions Uruguay on May 30, 1962 in their first World Cup game and lost 2-1. It is still the last preliminary round match between two South American teams at a World Cup. In the second World Cup match they fought 4: 4 against the Soviet Union , in addition to the 4: 4 nV between England and Belgium at the 1954 World Cup, the highest-scoring draw at a World Cup to date and the only international match in which the Soviet goalkeeper played Lev Yashin had to accept four goals. The last group match against Yugoslavia was then lost 5-0 and the Colombians were the bottom of the group and left the World Cup for 28 years.

1966 in England

For the World Cup in England , Colombia had to qualify in a group with Ecuador and Chile . Colombia could only win the home game in Barranquilla against Chile, but lost the other three games and eliminated third in the group. Chile and Ecuador made the starting place at the World Cup in a play-off between themselves, which Chile decided in its favor.

1970 in Mexico

Again the Colombians could not qualify. In a group with Brazil , Paraguay and Venezuela , Colombia only finished third, which was not enough for qualification. Only the home game against Venezuela was won and a draw was achieved in Venezuela. All games were lost against Brazil and Paraguay.

1974 in the Federal Republic of Germany

In qualifying for the 1974 World Cup in Germany , Colombia had to play against Uruguay and Ecuador . In the end Uruguay and Colombia were tied on points, but the Uruguayans had the better goal difference, so that only the ungrateful second place remained for Colombia, although they did not lose against Uruguay and even won in Uruguay. But two draw games against Ecuador weren't enough for the points.

1978 in Argentina

In addition to hosts Argentina, only two other South American teams were able to qualify for the fourth World Cup in South America. The qualification for the two places was played in two rounds, but Colombia were eliminated in the first round against Brazil and Paraguay and could only achieve two draws against Paraguay, but lost both games against the record world champions.

1982 in Spain

In qualifying for the World Cup in Spain , Colombia could not prevail against Peru and Uruguay. Both home games ended only in a draw and the away games were lost, so that in the end Peru was ahead and was able to qualify for the World Cup for the last time to date.

1986 in Mexico

Colombia was actually qualified as host for the 1986 World Cup, but since Colombia could not meet the requirements of FIFA, Mexico was designated as the new venue by FIFA in 1983 and Colombia had to qualify . The qualification was carried out over two rounds, whereby the three group winners qualified directly. Four other teams played from fourth place on the grid. These included Colombia, which in the group stage was only third in a group of four behind Argentina and Peru. In the second round they failed to Paraguay.

1990 in Italy

For the second World Cup in Italy , Colombia was drawn into a qualifying group with Paraguay and Ecuador . Colombia beat Paraguay by one point. As the worst group winner, Colombia still had to face the Oceania winners. This was Israel and after a 1-0 home game and a 0-0 second leg, Colombia was able to take part in the World Cup finals for the second time.

In Italy they achieved their first World Cup victory in the first group match: They won 2-0 against newcomer United Arab Emirates . In the second game they lost 1-0 to Yugoslavia . In the last group game against eventual world champions Germany they kept a 0-0 for a long time, but then had to accept the 0-1 in the 88th minute. Almost immediately they managed to equalize in the second minute of stoppage time, so that they moved into the second round as the best third party in the group. There they met the surprise team from Cameroon , which had defeated defending champions Argentina in the opening game. After a goalless 90 minutes, the Colombians went into overtime for the first time at a World Cup. In this, 38-year-old Roger Milla scored two goals for the Africans. The goal to 1: 2 by Bernardo Redín was not enough to turn the game around again. Cameroon was the first African team to make it to a World Cup quarter-finals, but lost to England in extra time. After all, Colombia had survived the preliminary round for the first time and did not lose to future world champions Germany.

1994 in the United States

For the World Cup in the USA , Colombia was drawn into a qualifying group with Argentina, Paraguay and Peru. Surprisingly, the Colombians qualified as group winners ahead of Argentina, which, however, also qualified as group runner-up in the intercontinental playoffs against Australia . With their qualifying victories, especially the 5-0 win in Argentina against the former world champions, the Colombians were considered a secret favorite of the World Cup.

In the USA, the Colombians met Romania in their first group game and lost 3-1. The second group match against hosts USA was also lost 2-1 to an own goal by Andrés Escobar , who was probably shot in front of a bar in Medellín a few days after the World Cup because of this own goal . The 2-0 win in the last group game against Switzerland was then useless, because Colombia was eliminated from the bottom of the group.

1998 in France

For the soccer World Cup 1998 , all South American teams except defending champion Brazil, who was automatically qualified, competed in a joint group for the first time and played four places in the everyone-against-everyone mode. Colombia was ultimately able to qualify as third in the South American group.

In France, they met Romania in their first group game, just like four years earlier, and lost 1-0. In the second game against Tunisia it was 1-0, so that in the last game against England , which had also lost to Romania, a win would have been enough to reach the knockout round. But with a 2-0 draw, Colombia said goodbye to the World Cup for 16 years and record international Carlos Valderrama ended his national team career.

2002 in Japan and South Korea

In qualifying for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, all 10 South American teams competed again in a common group and played in an all-against-all mode. Colombia was only sixth in the group behind the tied Uruguayans and thus missed the intercontinental playoff games. The qualification was gambled away in particular due to home defeats against Paraguay and Peru.

2006 in Germany

The Colombians were also unable to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany . Again it was only enough to place 6 behind Uruguay and in the end only one point was missing to reach at least the intercontinental playoff games. This point was lost in the penultimate game by a draw against Chile. However, Uruguay could not prevail in the intercontinental playoffs against Australia, which was the first time in 32 years back in the finals.

2010 in South Africa

The qualification for the Soccer World Cup 2010 in South Africa was a little worse for Colombia. Equal on points with Ecuador, only the seventh place was taken, again one point behind the Uruguayans, who again had to go through the intercontinental playoff games in order to successfully qualify. And again Chile was the stumbling block on the penultimate match day: This time the home game was even lost 2: 4. If they had won, they would have taken part in the intercontinental playoffs.

2014 in Brazil

Colombian fans during the game against Ivory Coast

Scene from the quarter-final match against Brazil

On the way to the 2014 World Cup, Colombia qualified second in the South American group , just two points behind the first-placed Argentines . Just like the two-time world champion, they had nine wins and on the penultimate matchday they were able to perfect their early qualification despite a 3: 3 against Chile.

In Brazil, the Colombians were drawn into a group with Greece , the Ivory Coast and Japan . In the first game they won 3-0 against Greece, the second game against Ivory Coast was won 2-1 and with a 4-1 against Japan in the last group game they were unbeaten group winners for the first time. In the last sixteen they met ex-world champions Uruguay and reached the quarter-finals for the first time with two goals from James Rodríguez . In this they met hosts Brazil and lost 1: 2. With six goals, James Rodríguez was the first Colombian to be the top scorer at a World Cup.

2018 in Russia

In the qualification all 10 CONMEBOL members joined since October 2015 back to home and away matches against each other. The best four teams qualified directly, the fifth must play against a member of another confederation in playoff games. Colombia started with a home win against Peru, but then lost in Uruguay. Then they managed a 1-1 draw at South American champions Chile, but in the last game in 2015 a home game was lost for the first time in five years and, like last time, again against Argentina, which achieved their first victory in qualifying. In 2016, Colombia won three games, but then lost in Brazil and could only win one of the next four games. The year 2017 started with two wins for the Colombians, so that since the other teams also took points away from each other before the last four games they were in second place behind the Brazilians who had already qualified for the World Cup, but only four points ahead of sixth had. In the following games they met opponents who were still behind them three times, but could not win any game and only get two points. Nevertheless, it was enough to qualify directly for the World Cup in fourth place.

In Russia they lost the opening game 1: 2 against Japan. They had to play outnumbered for 87 minutes, as Carlos Sánchez had received the red card in the third minute after a handball to prevent a goal from being conceded . Although they were able to compensate for the deficit after the hand penalty that was imposed and converted at the same time in the 39th minute, in the 73rd minute they fell behind again, which they could then no longer compensate. In the second game they won 3-0 against Poland and secured victory in the group with a 1-0 win against Senegal in the last group game. The top scorer of the last World Cup had to be replaced in the 31st minute and James could not be used in the round of 16 against England. In this they had to accept after a goalless first half in the 57th minute a goal from a penalty converted by the later top scorer Harry Kane . After this lead, the English, who had dominated until then, gave up the reins and Colombia pushed for the equalizer. It was not until the third minute of stoppage time that the efforts bore fruit and defender Yerry Mina , who had already scored the winning goal against Senegal, was able to equalize the English lead. Since the following extra time remained goalless, there was a penalty shoot-out in which both goalkeepers were able to save a penalty. But since Mateus Uribe also shot his penalty against the crossbar while all other shooters were successful, England won a World Cup penalty shoot-out for the first time and Colombia was eliminated. In the all-time World Cup table, however, the Colombians improved by three places.

Ranking of the Colombian World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Carlos Valderrama - 10 out of 3 tournaments

02. Juan Cuadrado , David Ospina and Freddy Rincón - 9 each in 3 tournaments

05. James Rodríguez - 8 in 2 tournaments

06. Santiago Arias , Leonel Alvarez , Andres Escobar , Luis Fernando Herrera and Carlos Sánchez - 7 out of 2 tournaments

11. Luis Carlos Perea and Adolfo Valencia - 6 each in 2 tournaments

13. Pablo Armero , Gabriel Gómez and Cristian Zapata - 5 each in 2 tournaments

Ranking of the Colombian World Cup players with the most goals

James Rodríguez, top Colombian World Cup goalscorer and first Colombian World Cup top scorer

01. James Rodríguez - 6 goals

02. Yerry Mina - 3 goals

03. Juan Cuadrado , Jackson Martínez , Juan Quintero , Bernardo Redín and Adolfo Valencia - 2 goals each

World Cup captains

• 1962: Francisco Zuluaga (1st game), Efraín Sánchez (2nd and 3rd game)
• 1990, 1994, 1998: Carlos Valderrama
• 2014: Mario Yepes (1st and 2nd game, round of 16 and quarter-finals), David Ospina (3rd game)
• 2018: Falcao

Players banned from World Championships

• 1990: Gabriel Gómez received the second yellow card in the round of 16 . Since Colombia was eliminated, this had no effect.
• 1994: Leonel Álvarez and Carlos Valderrama received the second yellow card in the last group game. Since Colombia was eliminated, these had no effect.
• 1998: José Santa received the second yellow card in the second group match and was suspended for the last group match against England .
• 2018: Carlos Sánchez received the red card in the first group game for handball in the penalty area to prevent a goal. The second yellow card Wílmar Barrios received in the round of 16 has no effect as Colombia were eliminated.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

Legionnaires did not play a major role in the first three World Cup squads of the Colombians. In 1998 it was more than half and in 2014 only three players playing in Colombia were called up.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1962 (3)	0
1990 (4)	2 (1 in France, 1 in Switzerland)	Carlos Valderrama (4); Andrés Escobar (4)
1994 (3)	4 (1 in Argentina, 1 in Brazil, 1 in Germany, 1 in Italy)	Faryd Mondragon (0); Freddy Rincon (3); Adolfo Valencia (3); Faustino Asprilla (3)
1998 (3)	12 (5 in Argentina, 2 in Brazil, 1 in Ecuador, 1 in England, 1 in Italy, 1 in Spain, 1 in the USA)	Jorge Bermúdez (3), Iván Córdoba (0), Óscar Córdoba (0), Faryd Mondragón (3), Mauricio Serna (3); Víctor Aristizábal (3), Freddy Rincón (3); Antony de Avila (2); Hámilton Ricard (1); Faustino Asprilla (1); John Harold Lozano (3); Carlos Valderrama (3)
2014 (5)	20 (4 in Argentina, 1 in Germany, 1 in England, 3 in France, 6 in Italy, 1 in the Netherlands, 2 in Portugal, 2 in Spain)	Éder Álvarez (0), Carlos Carbonero (1), Teófilo Gutiérrez (1), Carlos Valdés (1); Adrian Ramos (3); Pablo Armero (5); Abel Aguilar (3), David Ospina (5), James Rodríguez (5); Juan Cuadrado (5), Fredy Guarín (3), Víctor Ibarbo (2), Mario Yepes (4), Cristián Zapata (4), Juan Zúñiga (4); Santiago Arias (3); Jackson Martínez (3), Juan Quintero (3); Carlos Bacca (1), Carlos Sánchez (4)
2018 (4)	20 (2 in Argentina, 1 in Brazil, 1 in Germany, 3 in England, 1 in France, 2 in Italy, 2 in Mexico, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Paraguay, 6 in Spain)	Wílmar Barrios (3), Juan Quintero (4); Miguel Borja (1); James Rodríguez (3); José Izquierdo (1), David Ospina (4), Davinson Sánchez (4); Falcao (4); Juan Cuadrado (4), Cristian Zapata (1); Óscar Murillo (1), Mateus Uribe (3); Santiago Arias (4); Farid Díaz ; Carlos Bacca (3), Jefferson Lerma (4), Yerry Mina (3), Johan Mojica (4), Luis Muriel (2), Carlos Sánchez (3)

Games

The Colombians have played 22 World Cup games so far. Of these, nine were won, ten lost and three ended in a draw. Two draw games had to be extended because a winner had to be determined. One game was lost in extra time and one on penalties.

The Colombians never played in the opening game and played against the hosts twice: in the preliminary round in 1994 and in the quarter-finals in 2014.

The Colombians played once (1990) against the eventual world champion, but never against the defending champion.

The Colombians met newcomers to the World Cup once: 1990 / UAE

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	Remarks
1	05/30/1962	1: 2	Uruguay	*	Arica ( CHL )	Preliminary round
2	06/03/1962	4: 4	Soviet Union	*	Arica ( CHL )	Preliminary round	First game against the Soviet Union
3	06/07/1962	0: 5	Yugoslavia	*	Arica ( CHL )	Preliminary round	First game against Yugoslavia
4th	06/09/1990	2-0	United Arab Emirates	*	Bologna ( ITA )	Preliminary round	First game of a South American team against the United Arab Emirates
5	06/14/1990	0: 1	Yugoslavia	*	Bologna ( ITA )	Preliminary round
6th	06/19/1990	1: 1	BR Germany	*	Milan ( ITA )	Preliminary round	First game against Germany
7th	06/23/1990	1: 2 a.d.	Cameroon	*	Naples ( ITA )	Round of 16	First game against Cameroon
8th	06/18/1994	1: 3	Romania	*	Los Angeles ( USA )	Preliminary round	First game against Romania
9	06/22/1994	1: 2	United States	A.	Los Angeles ( USA )	Preliminary round	78th and last international match by Luis Carlos Perea
10	06/26/1994	2-0	Switzerland	*	San Francisco ( USA )	Preliminary round
11	06/15/1998	0: 1	Romania	*	Lyon ( FRA )	World Cup preliminary round
12	06/22/1998	1-0	Tunisia	*	Montpellier ( FRA )	World Cup preliminary round	First game against Tunisia
13	06/26/1998	0: 2	England	*	Lens ( FRA )	World Cup preliminary round	111th and last international match by Carlos Valderrama
14th	06/14/2014	3-0	Greece	*	Belo Horizonte ( BRA )	Preliminary round
15th	06/19/2014	2: 1	Ivory Coast	*	Brasília ( BRA )	Preliminary round	First game against Ivory Coast
16	06/24/2014	4: 1	Japan	*	Cuiabá ( BRA )	Preliminary round	At the age of 43 years and 3 days, goalkeeper Faryd Mondragón , who came on as a substitute in the 85th minute , becomes the oldest World Cup player of all time
17th	06/28/2014	2-0	Uruguay	*	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )	Round of 16
18th	04/07/2014	1: 2	Brazil	A.	Fortaleza ( BRA )	Quarter finals
19th	06/19/2018	1: 2	Japan	*	Saransk , ( RUS )	Group game
20th	06/24/2018	3-0	Poland	*	Kazan ( RUS )	Group game
21st	06/28/2018	1-0	Senegal	*	Samara ( RUS )	Group game
22nd	07/03/2018	1: 1 a.d., 3: 4 i. E.	England	*	Moscow ( RUS )	Round of 16

Highest victories and defeats

The Colombian team achieved their highest victories against the following countries in World Cup tournaments:

•  Ivory Coast : 2014 2-1 preliminary round (only game against Ivory Coast)
•  Greece : preliminary round 2014 3-0
•  Japan : preliminary round 2014 4-1
•  Poland : Preliminary round 2018 3-0
•  Switzerland : 1994 2-0 preliminary round (also a 3-1 in a friendly game)
•  Senegal : Preliminary round 2018 1-0
•  United Arab Emirates : 1990 2-0 preliminary round (only game against UAE)

The Colombian team suffered their biggest defeats in World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Japan : Preliminary round 2018 1: 2 (first loss against Japan)
•  Yugoslavia : preliminary round 1962 0-5
•  Cameroon : Round of 16 1990 1: 2 (also a 0: 1 in the Confederation Cup semi-finals 2003)
•  Romania : 1994 preliminary round 1: 3

Records

• Faryd Mondragón was the oldest participant in a World Cup until 2018: at the age of 43 years and 3 days he was used at the 2014 World Cup, but was replaced in 2018 by the Egyptian Essam El-Hadary , who was 45 years and five months old when he was there was-
• The highest-scoring draws: Colombia - Soviet Union 4: 4 (1962 / preliminary round) and England - Belgium 4: 4 a.s. (3: 3, 2: 1) (1954 / preliminary round)
• Most viewers in a qualifying game: 162,764 in the 6-0 win against Brazil on March 9, 1977 in Rio de Janeiro

Negative records

• Most goals conceded in a tournament: 1962, 11 in 3 games
• Last South American champion who could not qualify for the subsequent World Cup: 2002 as champion from 2001

See also

Colombian Women's National Football Team / World Championships

Web links

• Football World - Statistics - Colombia on fifa.com
• fifa.com: "Statistical overview: records and milestones"

References and footnotes

1. ↑ Lost one on penalties
2. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB).
3. ↑ rsssf.com: "Lev Ivanovich Yashin - International Appearances"
4. ↑ youtube.com: WM 90 Germany - Colombia 1-1
5. ↑ The FIFA calls in the match reports for the second and third game Sánchez as captain, in the rsssf.com statistic is Marcos Coll named as captain for both games.
6. ^ At the Monegasque club AS Monaco