Colombia national football team

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Colombia
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Los Cafeteros (The Coffee Growers)
Association Federación Colombiana de Fútbol (FCF)
Confederation CONMEBOL (South America)
Head coach José Pekerman
Captain Mario Yepes
Most caps Carlos Valderrama (111)
Top scorer Arnoldo Iguaran (25)
Home stadium Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez[1]
FIFA code COL
FIFA ranking 7
Highest FIFA ranking 4 (December 1996, April 2002 – May 2002)
Lowest FIFA ranking 54 (June 2011)
Elo ranking 10
Highest Elo ranking 5 (January - June 1994)
Lowest Elo ranking 93 (August 1965)
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Mexico 3–1 Colombia Colombia
(Panama City, Panama; 10 February 1938)
Biggest win
Unofficial:
 Colombia 7-1 Guyana 
(Bogota, Colombia; 28 May 2012)
Official:
  Argentina 0–5 Colombia Colombia
(Buenos Aires, Argentina; 5 September 1993)
Colombia Colombia 5–0 Uruguay 
(Barranquilla, Colombia; 6 June 2004)[2]
Colombia Colombia 5–0 Peru 
(Barranquilla, Colombia; 4 June 2005)[3]
Colombia Colombia 5–0 Bolivia 
(Barranquilla, Colombia; 22 March 2013)
Biggest defeat
 Brazil 9–0 Colombia Colombia
(Lima, Peru; 24 March 1957)
World Cup
Appearances 4 (First in 1962)
Best result Round of 16, 1990
Copa América
Appearances 18 (First in 1945)
Best result Winners, 2001
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Appearances 3 (First in 2000)
Best result Runners-Up, 2000
Confederations Cup
Appearances 1 (First in 2003)
Best result 4th, 2003

The Colombian National Football Team represents Colombia in international football competitions and is controlled by the Colombian Football Federation. It is a member of the CONMEBOL. The highest rank it ever reached in FIFA World Rankings was 4th in 1996. It is currently ranked 6 in FIFA World Rankings[4] and 10th in Elo World Rankings.

Colombia had its strongest period during the 1990s where they were among the giants in world football. A match during this period in 1993 resulted in a 5–0 win over Argentina which caused a special 'mutual respect' rivalry between both nations.[5][6] The goalkeeper René Higuita achieved fame from his eccentric scorpion kick clearance against England at Wembley in 1995. At the 2001 Copa America, Óscar Córdoba became the first and only goal keeper in history to keep a perfect clean in a Copa America. Other stars from this team included Carlos Valderrama and Faustino Asprilla. During this era Colombia qualified for the 1990, 1994, and 1998 editions of the World Cup, only reaching the second round in 1990.

Colombia suffered over three World Cup cycles between 2002 to 2010, failing to be as strong as it had been in the 1990s; unable to qualify for the FIFA World Cup since 1998. Colombia has had problems throughout this era living up to the legacy of the older generations that rose the team's reputation.

However, in recent times during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Colombia has played with a new talented golden generation, bringing its current rank to 6th place in the FIFA world rankings. Returning in the top 10 for the first time since 2002, nearly 10 years around the end of the previous golden era and into the top 5 in the end of 2012 for the first time since 2004.[7][8]

Since the mid-1980s, the Colombian National team has been a stronghold fighting the negative stereotypes towards the country's reputation. This has also made the sport very popular and made the national team a sign of nationalism, pride, and passion for many Colombians world wide. Thus, Colombia is known for having a very passionate fan base in both national and international games world wide. [9]

They were the champions of the 2001 Copa América, which they hosted and set a new record of being undefeated, conceding no goals and winning each match. Prior to that success they were runners-up to Peru in the 1975 Copa América. Interestingly, Colombia was the first team to win FIFA best mover in 1993 where the achievement was first introduced and the second team after Croatia to win it twice with the second being in 2012.[8] The team are nicknamed Los Cafeteros due to the coffee production in their country.

Contents

History[edit]

Colombia won the Central American Cup in 1946, a cup they would win again in 1970. They first entered World Cup qualifying in the 1958 qualifiers, but were unsuccessful. Colombia drew with Uruguay in Bogotá 1–1, but lost in Montevideo 1–0. Later, Colombia narrowly lost against Paraguay 3–2 in Bogotá and later in Asunción 3–0, leaving the team at the bottom of CONMEBOL Group Three with one point.

1962 FIFA World Cup[edit]

In the 1962 qualifiers, they faced Peru in a two-game series and qualified for their first World Cup.

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Colombia 3 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1
2  Peru 1 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1

Colombia qualified.

At Chile 1962, Colombia lost 2–1 to South American champions Uruguay in their opening match. They then drew 4–4 with the reigning European champions Soviet Union in one of biggest shocks at Chile 1962. It should be noted that in this game, Colombia scored four goals against Soviet goalkeepr Lev Yashin, widely considered the best goalkeeper in football history. Also in that game, Marcos Coll scored the only Olympic goal in World Cup history. Additionally, in coming back from three goals down to draw the match, the Colombians completed one of the biggest comeback to draw in World Cup history (a feat decades later shared with Uruguay since their 3-3 draw with Senegal in the 2002 World Cup). Unfortunately, the Colombian campaign in 1962 ended with a 5–0 defeat to Euro 1960 runners-up Yugoslavia, so they went out in the group stage.

Group One

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
 Soviet Union 5 3 2 1 0 8 5
 Yugoslavia 4 3 2 0 1 8 3
 Uruguay 2 3 1 0 2 4 6
 Colombia 1 3 0 1 2 5 11

Aftermath and growth of La Selección[edit]

Colombia entered the 1966 qualifiers and finished bottom of their group behind Chile and Ecuador. The 1970 qualifiers proved to be little better. Shortly before the 1970 World Cup Colombia played a friendly against England losing 4–0, in a game which was overshadowed by the Bogotá Bracelet incident. In the 1974 qualifiers, Colombia finished behind Uruguay only on goal difference. In the 1975 Copa América, Colombia finished runners-up, losing to Peru 2–0.

For the 1990 World Cup, South America was allocated three-and-a-half berths at the 1990 finals. The continent's nine remaining sides were split into three groups with the two automatic qualifying berths going to the two best group winners, in this instance Uruguay and Brazil. The group winner with the worst record would advance to the CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off. Thus Colombia had to take on the winners of the Oceania zone. Curiously, this turned out to be Israel, after they finished ahead of Australia and New Zealand in the final qualifying group. Colombia qualified for their first FIFA World Cup since Chile 1962 after winning in Barranquilla 1–0, and tying in Israel 0–0.

1990 FIFA World Cup[edit]

At Italia '90, Colombia defeated United Arab Emirates 2–0, lost to Yugoslavia 1–0, and earned their place in the Round of Sixteen after a dramatic 1–1 draw with West Germany, which would later win the Cup. Group D

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
 West Germany 5 3 2 1 0 10 3 +7
 Yugoslavia 4 3 2 0 1 6 5 +1
 Colombia 3 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1
 United Arab Emirates 0 3 0 0 3 2 11 −9

During their Round of Sixteen match against Cameroon, the game went into extra time after a 0–0 draw. In an unfortunate moment, goalkeeper René Higuita failed to protect the ball 35 yards (32 m) from the goal line, enabling Cameroon striker Roger Milla to snatch it from him, and score Cameroon's decisive second goal. Milla struck twice, giving Cameroon a 2–0 lead in extra time. Colombia would score in the 115th minute, but were unable to get an equalizer.

1994 FIFA World Cup[edit]

Main article: Colombia at the 1994 FIFA World Cup

Qualification — CONMEBOL Group One

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Colombia 6 4 2 0 13 2 +11 10
 Argentina 6 3 1 2 7 9 −2 7
 Paraguay 6 1 4 1 6 7 −1 6
 Peru 6 0 1 5 4 12 −8 1

Colombia qualified. Argentina advanced to the CONMEBOL / CONCACAF / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Colombia finished top of their qualifying group without having lost a match, which included a historic 5–0 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires. Expectations of the team were high, some even naming them as favourites to win the tournament.

The match between Colombia and Romania was the first game for either side in the group phase. Romania took the lead in the 16th minute with their first attack of the match when Raducioiu took on three defenders before firing home a low shot. On the half hour mark, Hagi made it 2–0 when he noticed Córdoba out of position and dipped a cross over his head into the net. Valencia pulled a goal back for the Colombians in the 43rd minute when he headed in a corner from Perez. In the second half, Raducioiu put the result beyond doubt with his second goal in the final few minutes.
The team went into their second group game against the United States knowing they had to win to have any chance of progressing. On the 35th minute Andrés Escobar attempted to cut out a cross but accidentally deflected the ball into his own net. Earnie Stewart took the US two goals in front after scoring in the 56th minute. Valencia scored a consolation goal for Colombia in the closing minutes of the match. They did win their final group match 2–0 over Switzerland, but it was not enough to help them progress

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Romania 3 2 0 1 5 5 0 6
 Switzerland 3 1 1 1 5 4 +1 4
 United States 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
 Colombia 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 3
USA 1 – 1 Switzerland
Colombia 1 – 3 Romania
Switzerland 4 – 1 Romania
USA 2 – 1 Colombia
Switzerland 0 – 2 Colombia
USA 0 – 1 Romania

1998 FIFA World Cup[edit]

Colombia began their qualification rounds in South America well and ended in third place with 28 points, 2 points below Argentina who was in 1st place with 30 points. They ended in Group G with Tunisia, England, and Romania.

Qualification For France 98: A total of 10 CONMEBOL teams entered the competition. The South American zone was allocated 5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament. Brazil, the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 4 spots open for competition between 9 teams.

Final Standings

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Argentina 16 8 6 2 23 13 10 30
2  Paraguay 16 9 2 5 21 14 7 29
3  Colombia 16 8 4 4 23 15 8 28
4  Chile 16 7 4 5 32 18 14 25
5  Peru 16 7 4 5 19 20 -1 25
6  Ecuador 16 6 3 7 22 21 1 21
7  Uruguay 16 6 3 7 18 21 -3 21
8  Bolivia 16 4 5 7 18 21 -3 17
9  Venezuela 16 0 3 13 8 41 -33 3

Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia and Chile qualified.

Group G

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
 Romania 7 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2
 England 6 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3
 Colombia 3 3 1 0 2 1 3 −2
 Tunisia 1 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3
England 2 - 0 Tunisia
Romania 1 - 0 Colombia
Colombia 1 - 0 Tunisia
Romania 2 - 1 England
Colombia 0 - 2 England
Romania 1 - 1 Tunisia

In their opening match, Adrian Ilie of Valencia CF gave Romania a 1–0 victory over Colombia after he placed a magnificent chip shot in the 44th minute from some 15 yards (14 m) that sailed over goalkeeper Farid Mondragón into the net.

15 June 1998
17:30
 Romania  1 – 0  Colombia Stade de Gerland, Lyon
Attendance: 37,572
Referee: Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius)
Ilie Goal 45' Report

Colombia's second match was against Tunisia. Colombia's Leider Preciado struck seven minutes from the end to give a 1-0 win.

22 June 1998
17:30
 Colombia  1 – 0  Tunisia Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
Attendance: 29,800
Referee: Bernd Heynemann (Germany)
Preciado Goal 83' Report

Although England needed only a draw to guarantee a place in the Final 16, Darren Anderton drove home a fiercely-struck angled drive in the 20th minute. David Beckham curled in a 30-yard (27 m) free kick nine minutes later and England won the game 2-0. Colombia was thus eliminated.

26 June 1998
21:00
 Colombia  0 – 2  England Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens
Attendance: 38,100
Referee: Arturo Brizio Carter (Mexico)
Report Anderton Goal 20'
Beckham Goal 29'

2001 Copa América[edit]

Colombia's exit at France '98 marked the end of an era, as many expected, but one last moment of glory came at Copa América 2001.

The Copa América in 2001 was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Prior to the tournament, three meetings were held by CONMEBOL authorities who were concerned about potential security issues in Colombia, for what Venezuela offered to host the competition. At the last minute, CONMEBOL decided to return the organization to Colombia, and the tournament was held on schedule. Complaining for the sudden decision, and claiming that Argentine players had received death threats from terrorist groups, the Argentine Football Association decided to withdraw from the competition. Because Canada and Argentina withdrew, on July 6 and July 10 respectively, Honduras and Costa Rica were invited. There were no terrorist incidents within the competition. Colombia was placed in Group A with Venezuela, Chile, and Ecuador, and they finished on top of the group with nine points

Group Stage:

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Colombia 3 3 0 0 5 0 +5 9
 Chile 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 6
 Ecuador 3 1 0 2 5 5 0 3
 Venezuela 3 0 0 3 0 7 −7 0

Quarter-Finals:

2001-07-23
19:45
 Colombia  3–0  Peru Estadio Centenario, Armenia
Referee: Gilberto Alcalá (Mexico)
Aristizábal Goal 50' Goal 69'
Hernández Goal 66'		 (0–0)

Semi-Finals:

2001-07-26
19:45
 Colombia  2–0  Honduras Estadio Palogrande, Manizales
Referee: Mario Sánchez (Chile)
Bedoya Goal 6'
Aristizábal Goal 63'		 (1–0)

Final:

2001-07-29
16:30
 Colombia  1–0  Mexico Estadio El Campín, Bogotá
Referee: Ubaldo Aquino (Paraguay)
I. Córdoba Goal 65' (0–0)

Hosts Colombia won their first Copa América title by beating Mexico in Bogotá. Their captain Iván Córdoba scored the decisive goal early in the second half with a header from a free kick. It was a fairytale success for Colombia after the decision to go ahead with the tournament after it had initially been cancelled. Even the fact that Argentina, regarded by most observers as the strongest side in the region, elected not to take part and that most countries fielded weakened teams failed to dampen the celebrations in Bogotá. It was also noted the following year that Brazil was then considered to be the strongest in the region at the time following their 2002 FIFA World Cup victory thus making the event 'legit'. This is also credited to the fact that Argentina failed to make it out of the group stage at the 2002 World Cup.

2002 FIFA World Cup[edit]

For Korea/Japan 2002, hopes were high for Colombia, but a weak attack and internal turmoil crushed their hopes. Colombia only managed to place sixth in the qualification round. Uruguay and Colombia had both 27 points but due to goal difference, Uruguay advanced to the play-offs with Australia.

Final Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Argentina 18 13 4 1 42 15 +27 43
2  Ecuador 18 9 4 5 23 20 +3 31
3  Brazil 18 9 3 6 31 17 +14 30
4  Paraguay 18 9 3 6 29 23 +6 30
5  Uruguay 18 7 6 5 19 13 +6 27
6  Colombia 18 7 6 5 20 15 +5 27
7  Bolivia 18 4 6 8 21 33 −12 18
8  Peru 18 4 4 10 14 25 −11 16
9  Venezuela 18 5 1 12 18 44 −26 16
10  Chile 18 3 3 12 15 27 −12 12

2005 CONCACAF Copa de Oro[edit]

The Colombian team playing a friendly match against England in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States (2005)

The 2005 CONCACAF Copa de Oro, or Gold Cup, was played in July 2005 in the United States. Colombia and South Africa were invited guests. Colombia was placed in Group A with Panama, Honduras, and Trinidad and Tobago. There were 3 Groups with 4 teams each, which meant that all 3 first place and second place finishers would advance to the quarter finals and so would the best two third place finishers

Group Stage: Panama: 1–0 : Colombia

Colombia's opening match was against Panama where they lost 1–0. Tejada, who plays for Colombian club Millonarios, netted the game's lone score in the 70th minute.

Group Stage: Honduras: 2–1 : Colombia

The next match was against Honduras where they lost again 2–1. Two late goals gave Honduras the advantage as the catrachos defeated Colombia 2–1 in Group A action of the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The win is the first for Honduras in the tournament since 2000, when they also defeated Colombia.

Group Stage: Trinidad and Tobago: 0–2 : Colombia

The third match was against Trinidad and Tobago where they won a 2–0 victory.

Quarterfinals: Colombia: 2–1 : Mexico

Colombia reached the quarterfinals to face Mexico. Colombia beat Mexico 2–1 as an unexpected goal from Abel Aguilar helped the South American squad advance to the semifinals.

Semifinals: Panama: 3–2 : Colombia

Colombia reached the semifinals only to be defeated by Panama, the underdogs of the tournament. Panama clipped Colombia 3–2 in front of more than 40,000 people at Giants Stadium.

2006 FIFA World Cup[edit]

2006 FIFA World Cup -Germany was an important moment for Colombia, having failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. Head coach Francisco Maturana led the team through 4 FIFA qualifiers and was fired after losing to Brazil 2–1 in Barranquilla, getting thrashed 4–0 by a weak Bolivia and suffering a shocking 1–0 defeat at home to Venezuela. Following a 1–1 tie with Argentina he was fired and Reinaldo Rueda was placed as the new coach. Colombia seemed to have improved and defeated Peru and Uruguay 5–0 during qualifying, managed a 3–0 victory over arch-rivals Ecuador, and tied with Brazil 0–0 in São Paulo. Towards the end Colombia (21 pts), Chile (21pts), and Uruguay (22 pts) had a chance to target the playoffs with Australia. Colombia (21 pts) traveled to Asunción hoping for three points against Paraguay (28), who sealed their place in Germany while Chile battled against Ecuador and Uruguay against Argentina. As in the 2002 qualifiers, the last match of Argentina was against Uruguay, and in both occasions Uruguay needed a favourable result to reach 5th place in order to make the playoffs to earn a place in the World Cup. Even though Colombia won its match against Paraguay, Uruguay also won the match against Argentina, again reaching the position to play the playoff for the last ticket to Germany. Both Argentina and Paraguay had already qualified. Colombia ended with 24 pts, once again behind Uruguay with 25 pts.

Final Standings

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Brazil 18 9 7 2 35 17 +18 34
 Argentina 18 10 4 4 29 17 +12 34
 Ecuador 18 8 4 6 23 19 +4 28
 Paraguay 18 8 4 6 23 23 0 28
 Uruguay 18 6 7 5 23 28 −5 25
 Colombia 18 6 6 6 24 16 +8 24
 Chile 18 5 7 6 18 22 −4 22
 Venezuela 18 5 3 10 20 28 −8 18
 Peru 18 4 6 8 20 28 −8 18
 Bolivia 18 4 2 12 20 37 −17 14
  Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela
Argentina  – 3–0 3–1 2–2 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 4–2 3–2
Bolivia  1–2 – 1–1 0–2 4–0 1–2 2–1 1–0 0–0 3–1
Brazil  3–1 3–1 – 5–0 0–0 1–0 4–1 1–0 3–3 3–0
Chile  0–0 3–1 1–1 – 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–1
Colombia  1–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 – 3–0 1–1 5–0 5–0 0–1
Ecuador  2–0 3–2 1–0 2–0 2–1 – 5–2 0–0 0–0 2–0
Paraguay  1–0 4–1 0–0 2–1 0–1 2–1 – 1–1 4–1 1–0
Peru  1–3 4–1 1–1 2–1 0–2 2–2 4–1 – 0–0 0–0
Uruguay  1–0 5–0 1–1 2–1 3–2 1–0 1–0 1–3 – 0–3
Venezuela  0–3 2–1 2–5 0–1 0–0 3–1 0–1 4–1 1–1 –

2006 Central American and Caribbean Games[edit]

Group Stage

July 16 Colombia 7 - 0 Netherlands Antilles at Cartagena, Colombia
July 20 Colombia 2 - 3 Panama at Cartagena, Colombia

Quarter Finals

After Copa América 2007[edit]

After Copa América 2007, the Colombian national football team boomed with recent success in the South American 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. After embarrassing losses against Paraguay, and Argentina in the Copa América, many Colombians nonetheless anticipated a successful run for 2010 FIFA World Cup classification. In the first match of the qualifying round, Colombia, defying expectations that they would lose to Brazil, drew 0–0 with Brazil at home. Not long after that, Colombia surprisingly tied 0–0 again with Bolivia national football team, but many argue that this was largely due to the fact that the altitude of La Paz contributes to usual losses or ties for non-Bolivian teams. However, Colombia would find their very first win after defeating a weak Venezuela national football team 1–0, with a stupendous free kick courtesy of Rubén Darío Bustos. In their next game, Colombia would defy expectations again by beating Argentina, at the time ranked first in the world. On November 17, 2007, In Bogotá against Argentina, Lionel Messi beat the defense before scoring past goalkeeper Agustín Julio. Colombia turned the game around in the second half, however, when Rubén Darío Bustos got his second free kick goal of the qualifying campaign, and not long after that, Dayro Moreno scored his first international goal for Colombia. Colombia won the match 2–1, obtaining 4th place in the world cup qualifiers. On June 14, 2008 Colombia tied Peru 1–1 moving Colombia up to 3rd place in the world cup qualifiers after a Brazilian loss to Paraguay. Another 0–0 between Ecuador and Colombia in Quito was on June 18, 2008 and Colombia remain at 3rd place and as the only undefeated country in the qualification after Bolivia won Paraguay 4–2. Successive defeats to Uruguay and Paraguay at home, and a thrashing away to Chile, however, left Colombia in an extremely dangerous position knocking them out of the top five and forcing them to set their sights on the fifth play-off spot only. As of September 25, 2009, they are eighth after a 3–1 defeat at the hands of Uruguay in Montevideo. On October 10, 2009, Colombia lost 4–2 in Colombia against Chile, losing any possibility of assisting to 2010 World Cup. After that, on October 14, 2009, they played their last qualification match against Paraguay, in Asunción, Paraguay, beating 2–0 and finishing in 7th place in the table standings with 23 points, one point behind Uruguay, who went on to compete in the play-offs, and eventually play in the World Cup

2010 World Cup and Aftermath[edit]

Colombia failed to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, mainly because their constant change of formations and struggles to score goals in the last games of the qualification. They played an Exhibition Match against South Africa a month before the World Cup started, which they lost 2–1. The game was the first soccer match played in the recently-built Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. All three goals of the match were scored by penalty kicks, and the match was highly criticized because both of the South Africa penalty kicks did not seem to be fouls at all, and because of the reported partiality of the referee towards the South Africa team. Another Exhibition Match was played in England against Nigeria, a match that ended in a 1–1 draw. Both matches were the first ones that coach Hernán Darío Gómez directed after his designation and return to Colombia's coaching. With a 2–0 win over Venezuela, and a 1–0 win against Ecuador, they wanted success over USA (which ended 0–0). In between all that they lost to Mexico 1–0. Los Cafeteros tied with Peru 1–1 but loss in an action packed duel against champions Spain 1–0. They successfully defeated Ecuador again 2–0 but suffered a 2–0 defeat to Chile in March even after many goal attempts. Colombia had beaten Hounduras 2-0 after two spectacular goals from Teo, although many fans complain games such as this one aren't testing their full potential. In Ft. Lauderdale, Colombia beat Jamaica 2-0 with Jackson Martinez and Teo scoring to test Leonel Álvarez's side as a coach.

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification Standings[edit]

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Brazil 18 9 7 2 33 11 +22 34
 Chile 18 10 3 5 32 22 +10 33
 Paraguay 18 10 3 5 24 16 +8 33
 Argentina 18 8 4 6 23 20 +3 28
 Uruguay 18 6 6 6 28 20 +8 24
 Ecuador 18 6 5 7 22 26 −4 23
 Colombia 18 6 5 7 14 18 −4 23
 Venezuela 18 6 4 8 23 29 −6 22
 Bolivia 18 4 3 11 22 36 −14 15
 Peru 18 3 4 11 11 34 −23 13
  Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela
Argentina  – 3–0 1–3 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 4–0
Bolivia  6–1 – 2–1 0–2 0–0 1–3 4–2 3–0 2–2 0–1
Brazil  0–0 0–0 – 4–2 0–0 5–0 2–1 3–0 2–1 0–0
Chile  1–0 4–0 0–3 – 4–0 1–0 0–3 2–0 0–0 2–2
Colombia  2–1 2–0 0–0 2–4 – 2–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0
Ecuador  2–0 3–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 – 1–1 5–1 1–2 0–1
Paraguay  1–0 1–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 5–1 – 1–0 1–0 2–0
Peru  1–1 1–0 1–1 1–3 1–1 1–2 0–0 – 1–0 1–0
Uruguay  0–1 5–0 0–4 2–2 3–1 0–0 2–0 6–0 – 1–1
Venezuela  0–2 5–3 0–4 2–3 2–0 3–1 1–2 3–1 2–2 –


2011 Copa América[edit]

Group A[edit]

Main article: 2011 Copa América Group A

In Copa América 2011, Colombia showed great skill beating Costa Rica 1-0 goal given by Adrian Ramos thanks to an assist by Fredy Guarin. Colombia with an epic match against Argentina dominating the game almost entirely although suffered by their weakness in goal scoring thus ending 0-0. Finally, they crushed Bolivia 2-0 both goals by Radamel Falcao one by penalty. This resulted in shocking the host nation Argentina, who were favorites to win the group. After that they confronted Peru with high expectations. Before extra time, Falcao was given a penalty only to miss by a wide shot and forcing into extra time. Colombia lost 2-0 after a mistake by defense as Mario Yepes had accidentally tripped goal keeper Neco Martínez who conceded no goals up to this point allowing Peruvian player Carlos Lobatón a clear shot. Martinez later had mistakenly kicked the ball to Juan Manuel Vargas who sealed the victory for Peru.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Colombia 3 2 1 0 3 0 +3 7
 Argentina 3 1 2 0 4 1 +3 5
 Costa Rica 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
 Bolivia 3 0 1 2 1 5 −4 1
July 2, 2011
15:30 UTC−3
 Colombia  1–0  Costa Rica Estadio 23 de Agosto, Jujuy
Attendance: 22.500
Referee: Enrique Osses (Chile)
A. Ramos Goal 45' Report
July 6, 2011
21:45 UTC−3
 Argentina  0–0  Colombia Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López, Santa Fe
Attendance: 47,000
Referee: Sálvio Fagundes (Brazil)
Report
July 10, 2011
16:00 UTC−3
 Colombia  2–0  Bolivia Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López, Santa Fe
Attendance: 12.000
Referee: Francisco Chacón (Mexico)
Falcao Goal 14', 28' (pen.) Report
July 16, 2011
16:00 UTC−3
 Colombia  0–2  Peru Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba
Referee: Francisco Chacón (Mexico)
Report Lobatón Goal 101'
Vargas Goal 111'

1st Half of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Cycle Qualification Standings[edit]

The Colombian side has started very well in their FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifications by beating Bolivia 2-1 in La Paz and a difficult match versus Venezuela that ended 1-1 in Barranquilla, Colombia. Colombia then lost to Argentina 1-2 after losing both star players Falcao and Guarin due to injuries. After lack of support, Leonel Álvarez was sacked only barely 3 months tying and losing for the first time which was largely criticized by many Colombians, particularly Colombian legend Carlos Valderrama, for firing him prematurely.[10] By the beginning of 2012, Jose Pekerman became the new coach of the national team.[11] In early 2012, Colombia showed great skill defeating 2011 Golden Cup winners Mexico 2-0 in what was Pekerman's friendly taking control of the game almost entirely.[12]

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Argentina 13 7 5 1 25 9 +16 26
 Colombia 12 7 2 3 21 7 +14 23
 Ecuador 12 6 3 3 17 12 +5 21
 Chile 13 7 0 6 21 21 0 21
 Uruguay 12 4 4 4 18 21 −3 16
 Venezuela 13 4 4 5 10 14 −4 16
 Peru 12 4 2 6 12 17 −5 14
 Bolivia 13 2 4 7 15 24 −9 10
 Paraguay 12 2 2 8 9 23 −14 8
  Argentina Bolivia Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela
Argentina  — 1–1 4–1 0–0 4–0 3–1 11 Oct 3–0 3–0
Bolivia  1–1 — 0–2 1–2 10 Sep 3–1 1–1 4–1 1–1
Chile  1–2 3–1 — 1–3 15 Oct 2–0 4–2 2–0 6 Sep
Colombia  1–2 5–0 11 Oct — 6 Sep 2–0 2–0 4–0 1–1
Ecuador  1–1 1–0 3–1 1–0 — 4–1 2–0 11 Oct 2–0
Paraguay  10 Sep 6 Sep 1–2 15 Oct 2–1 — 1–0 1–1 0–2
Peru  1–1 15 Oct 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 — 6 Sep 2–1
Uruguay  15 Oct 4–2 4–0 10 Sep 1–1 1–1 4–2 — 1–1
Venezuela  1–0 1–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 11 Oct 10 Sep 0–1 —


2nd Half of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Cycle Qualification standings[edit]

However Pekerman experimented with a new system barely granting Colombia a 1-0 over Peru. This bad system led to a shocking 0-1 loss to Ecuador, sending Colombia out of the qualifying range. However, Colombia bounced back with an international shock crushing Copa America winners Uruguay in a 4-0 win, ending their undefeated streak since the 2010 world cup. Many people complained that Barranquilla's heat was the cause of such a big win; Los Cafeteros though showed their skill by beating Chile from a goal down 1-3 in another shock, this time in an away victory. Colombia won a comfortable 2-0 home victory against Paraguay during the qualifiers, ending the first half of the CONMEBOL qualification. A few days later, Pekerman removed some of their star players for a friendly experiment with Cameroon winning another home victory in a 3-0 result. In an epic duel with 2014 World Cup hosts Brazil, Colombia scored first in a game that ended 1-1.

For their first match of 2013, Pekerman had another successful experiment in a 4-1 win against Guatemala using most of his subs before allowing the normal starters to play. Continuing the 2nd half the CONMEBOL qualifiers, Colombia enjoyed a comfortable 5-0 win over Bolivia.[13] However, Colombia suffered days later in a shocking 1-0 loss to Venezuela at an away game, where head coach Jose Pekerman proposed a different formation (4-4-1-1).[14] In the match against South American leaders Argentina, Colombia played a very controversial match, where both teams were red carded a player in the first half, and 8 yellow cards were called, leading to a difficult goalless draw.[15] Days later, Colombia dominated Peru in a 2-0 victory.

Schedule and results[edit]

Date Location Opponent Score Competition Colombia scorers
February 6, 2013 Miami, United States  Guatemala 4–1 F Martínez Goal 23' Martínez Goal 33' Aguilar Goal 56' Muriel Goal 81'
March 22, 2013 Barranquilla, Colombia  Bolivia 5–0 WCQ Torres Goal 20' Valdés Goal 50' Gutiérrez Goal 62' Falcao Goal 86' Armero Goal 90'+3'
March 26, 2013 Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela  Venezuela 0–1 WCQ
June 7, 2013 Buenos Aires, Argentina  Argentina 0-0 WCQ
June 11, 2013 Barranquilla, Colombia  Peru 2-0 WCQ Falcao Goal 13' Gutiérrez Goal 45'
August 14, 2013 Neiva, Colombia  Costa Rica F
September 6, 2013 Barranquilla, Colombia  Ecuador WCQ
September 10, 2013 Montevideo, Uruguay  Uruguay WCQ
October 11, 2013 Colombia  Chile WCQ
October 15, 2013 Paraguay  Paraguay WCQ
March 11, 2014 Colombia  Italy F
May 2, 2014 Colombia  Japan F

KEY: F = Friendly

Rivalries[edit]

With political issues with history/culture related nations Ecuador and Venezuela, Colombia has always taken interest. While Colombia has natural rival matches with neighbors Ecuador and Venezuela, the matches aren't as popular as the rival matches against Argentina.

The historical victory for Colombia in 1993 beating host Argentina in the 1993 World Cup qualifiers was the very first time Argentina lost in its home stadium Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti during a qualifying match for a world cup. An impressive 5–0 victory, many figures such as Diego Maradona expected Argentina to 'crush' Colombia entirely. Especially when Argentina were previous 2 time FIFA World Cup winners. Thus, it caused a huge upset and start of a respective rivalries. Unlike other rivalries full of hostility, the Colombian-Argentinean rivalry is more based on 'respect' than a 'hated' relationship always attracting great interest between both nations. Noted by the applauding Argentinean crowd after Colombia's 5-0 victory proving the respect for Colombia.[16] Thus the Colombian-Argentinean rivalry has been considered 'unique' and 'special'.

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

The following 26 players were called for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Argentina at June 7 and Peru on June 11, 2013.

Caps and goals updated as June 11, 2013.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK David Ospina (1988-08-31) August 31, 1988 (age 24) 36 0 France Nice
12 1GK Faryd Mondragón (1971-06-21) June 21, 1971 (age 41) 51 1 Colombia Deportivo Cali
23 1GK Camilo Vargas (1989-09-01) September 1, 1989 (age 23) 0 0 Colombia Santa Fe
3 2DF Mario Yepes Captain (1976-01-13) January 13, 1976 (age 37) 90 4 Italy Milan
14 2DF Luis Amaranto Perea (1979-01-30) January 30, 1979 (age 34) 70 0 Mexico Cruz Azul
18 2DF Juan Camilo Zúñiga (1985-12-14) December 14, 1985 (age 27) 48 1 Italy Napoli
7 2DF Pablo Armero (1986-11-02) November 2, 1986 (age 26) 43 1 Italy Napoli
22 2DF Aquivaldo Mosquera (1981-06-22) June 22, 1981 (age 31) 29 1 Mexico América
5 2DF Steffan Medina (1992-06-14) June 14, 1992 (age 21) 0 0 Colombia Atlético Nacional
13 3MF Fredy Guarín (1986-06-30) June 30, 1986 (age 26) 42 2 Italy Internazionale
8 3MF Abel Aguilar (1985-01-06) January 6, 1985 (age 28) 40 6 Spain Deportivo La Coruña
6 3MF Carlos Sánchez (1986-02-06) February 6, 1986 (age 27) 36 0 France Valenciennes
20 3MF Macnelly Torres (1984-11-01) November 1, 1984 (age 28) 33 3 Colombia Atlético Nacional
16 3MF Elkin Soto (1980-07-04) July 4, 1980 (age 32) 25 6 Germany Mainz 05
4 3MF Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (1988-05-26) May 26, 1988 (age 25) 19 3 Italy Fiorentina
15 3MF Edwin Valencia (1985-03-29) March 29, 1985 (age 28) 9 0 Brazil Fluminense
2 3MF Alexander Mejía (1988-09-07) September 7, 1988 (age 24) 4 0 Colombia Atlético Nacional
9 4FW Radamel Falcao (1986-02-10) February 10, 1986 (age 27) 45 17 Monaco Monaco
19 4FW Teófilo Gutiérrez (1985-05-28) May 28, 1985 (age 28) 23 10 Mexico Cruz Azul
21 4FW Jackson Martínez (1986-10-03) October 3, 1986 (age 26) 19 8 Portugal Porto
10 4FW Carlos Darwin Quintero (1987-09-19) September 19, 1987 (age 25) 13 3 Mexico Santos Laguna
17 4FW Carlos Bacca (1986-09-08) September 8, 1986 (age 26) 4 2 Belgium Club Brugge
11 4FW Luis Muriel (1991-04-18) April 18, 1991 (age 22) 3 1 Italy Udinese

Recent call-ups[edit]

The following players have been recently called up in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
DF Cristián Zapata (1986-09-30) September 30, 1986 (age 26) 17 0 Italy Milan vs  Argentina; June 7, 2013 WCQ
DF Gilberto García (1987-01-27) January 27, 1987 (age 26) 2 0 Colombia Once Caldas vs  Venezuela; March 26, 2013 WCQ
DF Héctor Quiñones (1992-02-18) February 18, 1992 (age 21) 0 0 Portugal Porto vs  Venezuela; March 26, 2013 WCQ
DF Carlos Valdés (1985-05-22) May 22, 1985 (age 28) 9 2 Colombia Santa Fe vs  Venezuela; March 26, 2013 WCQ
MF James Rodríguez (1991-07-12) July 12, 1991 (age 21) 13 2 Monaco Monaco vs  Argentina; June 7, 2013 WCQ
MF Aldo Leão Ramírez (1981-04-18) April 18, 1981 (age 32) 24 1 Mexico Morelia vs  Argentina; June 7, 2013 WCQ
MF Juan Fernando Quintero (1993-01-18) January 18, 1993 (age 20) 2 0 Italy Genoa vs  Venezuela; March 26, 2013 WCQ
MF Cristian Marrugo (1985-07-18) July 18, 1985 (age 27) 11 0 Mexico Veracruz vs  Cameroon; October 16, 2012 Friendly
MF Giovanni Moreno (1986-07-01) July 1, 1986 (age 26) 15 3 China Shanghai Shenhua vs  Chile; September 11, 2012 WCQ
FW Dorlan Pabón (1988-01-24) January 24, 1988 (age 25) 14 3 Mexico Monterrey vs  Brazil; November 14, 2012 Friendly

Kit[edit]

In July 1937 on the occasion of the inauguration of Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero of Cali and the fourth centenary of the founding of Cali city, was an international tournament with teams from Mexico, Argentina, Cuba and would be the first Colombia team in unofficial game.[17] In this opening Colombia team won 3–1 over Mexico.[18] (Without information from the uniform worn.)

Later in 1938 the Colombia team officially participated in the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games in Panama and later in the same year in Bogotá Bolivarian Games, for these two tournaments wore a sky blue shirt, white shorts and white socks. The sky blue may have been modeled upon three of the world's best teams at the time: Uruguay (Olympic Gold in 1924 and 1928 and the inaugural winners of the World Cup in 1930), Italy (World Cup winners in 1934 and 1938) and Argentina (Olympic Silver in 1928 and World Cup finalist in 1930).[19]

In the year 1945, the highest authority in the Colombian football: Adefútbol, affiliated to FIFA and Combebol, then the Colombia team participated for the first time in Copa América called 1945 South American Championship, held in Chile, where they played with a team purely "brown" because it was the Junior Barranquilla. (Without information from the kit worn.) Colombia team also participated in 1947 South American Championship and again in 1949, Adefútbol called to Junior Barranquilla to represent Colombia at the 1949 South American Championship in Brazil.[17] (Without information from the uniform worn.)

Colombia's participation in the championship 1957 South American Championship[20] and the first appearance in the World Cup 1962 FIFA World Cup wore a dark blue shirt white shorts with white or dark blue socks and as an alternate dark blue shirt, dark blue shorts and white socks.[19][21] This same kit was used in qualifying for the 1966 World.[22]

Colombia national football team 1971

On June 15, 1971, long after the power struggle between Adefútbol and Dimayor, a general assembly was held to give life to the present Colombian Football Federation[17] and with it came the orange uniform, evoking the powerful Netherlands team world runner-up in 1974 and 1978:[19] orange shirt with the national flag crossed on the chest, white shorts and orange socks, and for away matches a white shirt with the national flag crossed on the chest.[23] In the great Copa América 75 on Efraín 'Caiman' Sanchez's team achieved the first time a subtitle Copa América, orange shirt was used without the fringe on the chest, black shorts and orange socks.[24] By the early 80's is still with the same uniform, this time sponsored by the French brand Le Coq Sportif.[25] In the friendly match August 24, 1984 against Argentina in which the Colombia team won 1 to 0, again used the orange shirt with the tricolor band cross.[26][27]

In 1985 started the tricolor era for the uniform of Colombia team, and for the qualifying to the 1986 FIFA World Cup using a kit designed by María Elvira Pardo with tricolor turtle neck, sleeves and stockings with tricolor edge, red shirt, blue shorts and yellow socks for the home matches and yellow shirt for the away matches.[28][29] Colombia team used kits of the German brand Adidas in the final matches of the qualifying, keeping the same colors.[30]

In 1987, for the participation in 1987 Copa América Colombia national team wore a kit from the German brand Puma with yellow shirt, blue shorts and red socks.[31]

For the 1988 Ciudad de Bogotá cup,[32] the 1989 Copa América[33] and the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification[34] Colombia national team turned to wear Adidas, with red shirt, blue shorts and yellow socks for home matches and yellow shirt for away matches. Also for the 1990 FIFA World Cup Adidas designed the kit, keeping the same colours.[35]

In the 1991 Copa América Colombia Team used kits by the Spanish brand Kelme and kept the same colours of the previous year, red shirt for home matches and yellow shirt for away matches.[36][37]

Since 1992 they used a local yellow shirt, blue shorts and red socks from the brand Combra.[38] For the 1993 Copa América[39] and the 1994 FIFA World Cup[40] Colombia national team was worn by the English brand Umbro with the same colours: yellow shirt, blue shorts and red socks and blue shirt for away matches. Umbro sponsored the Colombia national team until 1997, in 1998 Reebok is the new brand of clothing from Colombia team on the 1998 FIFA World Cup,[41] keeping the same colours for home matches and blue shirt, white shorts and white or blue socks for away matches, Reebok dressed the Colombia national team in the 2001 Copa América until 2002.

Between 29 and 30 December 2002, the Federation traveled to Panama to negotiate with the Italian sportswear company Lotto,[42] they obtained sponsorship in 2003 and it was used on the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, keeping the same colours that they had been using for both home and away jerseys. Lotto accompanied the Colombia team until 2010. Since 2011 the German brand Adidas returned, Adidas was present in March 2011.[43] For the 2011 South American Youth Championship in Peru, held in January, team Colombia uses a preliminary design from Adidas.[44]

Home[edit]
1938
1957–1960
1960–1961
1962–1965
1971–1974
1975–1979


Le Coq Sportif 1980–1981
1982–1984
1985
Adidas 1985–1986
Puma 1987
Adidas 1988–1989


Adidas 1990
Kelme 1991
Comba 1992
Umbro 1993–1997
Reebok 1998–2000
Reebok 2001–2002


Lotto 2003–2004
Lotto 2004–2007
Lotto 2007–2009
Lotto 2009–2010
Adidas 2011 (prov.)
Adidas 2011-

Away[edit]
1957–1960
1960–1961
1962–1965
1971–1974
1975–1979
Le Coq Sportif 1980–1981


1982–1984
1985
Adidas 1985–1986
Adidas 1988–1989
Adidas 1990
Kelme 1991


Umbro 1993–1997
Reebok 1998–2000
Reebok 2001–2002
Lotto 2003–2004
Lotto 2004–2007
Lotto 2007–2009


Lotto 2009–2010
Adidas 2011 (prov.)
Adidas 2011-

Kit manufacturer[edit]

Period Kit Manufacturer
1980–1981 Le Coq Sportif
1985–1986 Adidas
1987 Puma
1988–1990 Adidas
1991 Kelme
1992 Comba
1993–1997 Umbro
1998–2002 Reebok
2003–2010 Lotto
2011–2022 Adidas

FIFA World Cup[edit]

FIFA World Cup Record
Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA GD
France 1938 Withdrew
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954 Banned
Sweden 1958 Did Not Qualify
Chile 1962 Group Stage 14th 3 0 1 2 5 11 6-
England 1966 Did Not Qualify
Mexico 1970
Germany 1974
Argentina 1978
Spain 1982
Mexico 1986
Italy 1990 Round of 16 14th 4 1 1 2 4 4 0
United States 1994 Group Stage 19th 3 1 0 2 4 5 1-
France 1998 Group Stage 21st 3 1 0 2 1 3 2-
South KoreaJapan 2002 Did Not Qualify
Germany 2006
South Africa 2010
Brazil 2014 Qualifications in progress
Total 4/18 13 3 2 8 14 23 9-

FIFA Confederations Cup[edit]

FIFA Confederations Cup Record
Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA Squad
Saudi Arabia 1992 Did Not Qualify
Saudi Arabia 1995
Saudi Arabia 1997
Mexico 1999
South Korea Japan 2001
France 2003 Fourth Place 4th 5 2 0 3 5 5 Squad
Germany 2005 Did Not Qualify
South Africa 2009
Brazil 2013
Russia 2017 To Be Determined
Qatar 2021
Total Fourth Place 1/9 5 2 0 3 5 5 -

Copa América Record[edit]

Copa América
Total: 1 Titles
Year Position Year Position Year Position
Argentina 1916 Did not enter Peru 1939 Did not enter Uruguay 1967 Did not qualify
Uruguay 1917 Did not enter Chile 1941 Did not enter 1975 Second place
Brazil 1919 Did not enter Uruguay 1942 Did not enter 1979 Round 1
Chile 1920 Did not enter Chile 1945 Fifth place 1983 Round 1
Argentina 1921 Did not enter Argentina 1946 Withdrew Argentina 1987 Third place
Brazil 1922 Did not enter Ecuador 1947 Eighth place Brazil 1989 Round 1
Uruguay 1923 Did not enter Brazil 1949 Eighth place Chile 1991 Fourth place
Uruguay 1924 Did not enter Peru 1953 Withdrew Ecuador 1993 Third place
Argentina 1925 Did not enter Chile 1955 Withdrew Uruguay 1995 Third place
Chile 1926 Did not enter Uruguay 1956 Withdrew Bolivia 1997 Quarter-finals
Peru 1927 Did not enter Peru 1957 Fifth place Paraguay 1999 Quarter-finals
Argentina 1929 Did not enter Argentina 1959 Withdrew Colombia 2001 Champions
Peru 1935 Did not enter Ecuador 1959 Withdrew Peru 2004 Fourth place
Argentina 1937 Did not enter Bolivia 1963 Seventh place Venezuela 2007 Round 1
Argentina 2011 Quarter-Finals

Honours[edit]

  • Runners-up (1): 2000
  • Third-place (1): 2005


Managers[edit]

Colombia national team managers since 1938 FROM TO
Alfonso Novoa 1938-02-10 1938-02-23
Fernando Paternoster 1938-08-08 1938-08-21
Roberto Meléndez 1945-01-21 1945-02-21
José Arana Cruz 1946-12-09 1946-12-20
Lino Taioli 1947-12-02 1947-12-29
Pedro López 1957-03-16 1957-04-01
Rodolfo Orlandini 1957-06-16 1957-07-07
Adolfo Pedernera 1961-02-05 1962-06-07
Gabriel Ochoa Uribe 1963-03-10 1963-03-31
Efraín Sánchez 1963-09-01 1963-09-04
Antonio Julio de la Hoz 1965-06-20 1965-08-07
Cesar López Fretes 1966-11-30 1966-12-11
Francisco Zuluaga 1968-10-16 1969-08-24
Cesar López Fretes 1970-05-20 1970-05-20
Toza Veselinović 1972-03-29 1973-07-05
Efraín Sánchez 1975-07-20 1975-10-28
Blagoje Vidinić 1976-10-15 1979-09-05
Carlos Bilardo 1980-01-05 1981-09-13
Efraín Sánchez 1983-02-14 1984-10-11
Gabriel Ochoa Uribe 1985-02-01 1985-11-03
Francisco Maturana 1987-06-11 1990-06-23
Luis Augusto García 1991-01-29 1991-07-21
Humberto Ortiz 1992-07-08 1992-08-02
Francisco Maturana 1993-02-24 1994-06-26
Hernán Darío Gómez 1995-01-31 1998-06-26
Javier Álvarez 1999-02-09 1999-11-19
Luis Augusto García 2000-02-12 2001-04-24
Francisco Maturana 2001-06-03 2001-11-14
Reynaldo Rueda 2002-05-07 2002-05-12
Francisco Maturana 2002-11-20 2003-11-19
Reynaldo Rueda 2004-02-18 2006-10-12
Jorge Luis Pinto 2007-01 2008-09
Eduardo Lara Lozano 2008-09 2009-11
Hernán Darío Gómez 2010-05-04 2011-08-22[45]
Leonel Álvarez[46] 2011-08-25 2011-12-14
José Pekerman 2012-01-04

Most caps[edit]

Player Colombia career Caps (Goals)
Carlos Valderrama 1985–1998 111 (11)
Leonel Álvarez 1985–1997 101 (1)
Mario Yepes 1999– 90 (4)
Freddy Rincón 1990–2001 84 (17)
Luis Carlos Perea 1987–1994 78 (2)
Iván Córdoba 1997–2011 73 (5)
Óscar Córdoba 1993–2006 73 (0)
Luis Amaranto Perea 2003– 70 (0)
Arnoldo Iguarán 1979–1993 68 (25)
René Higuita 1987–1999 68 (3)

Top goalscorers[edit]

Player Colombia career Goals (Caps)
Arnoldo Iguarán 1979–1993 25 (68)
Faustino Asprilla 1993–2001 20 (57)
Radamel Falcao 2007– 17 (45)
Freddy Rincón 1990–2001 17 (84)
Víctor Aristizábal 1993–2003 15 (66)
Adolfo Valencia 1992–1998 14 (37)
Iván Valenciano 1991–2000 13 (29)
Willington José Ortiz 1973–1985 13 (49)
Antony de Ávila 1983–1998 13 (53)
Carlos Valderrama 1985–1998 11 (111)
Teófilo Gutiérrez 2009– 10 (23)

Notable former players[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ http://www.semana.com/deportes/barranquilla-sera-sede-dos-primeros-partidos-eliminatorias/162902-3.aspx
  2. ^ Colombia 7:1 Guyana Bogota, Colombia — 28 de Mayo de 2012 Amistoso FIFA.com
  3. ^ FIFA.com
  4. ^ "Fifa/Coca Cola World Ranking". fifa.com. Retrieved 24 April 2013. 
  5. ^ http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/stories/classicqualifiers/news/newsid=1043740.html
  6. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MviNt7Fs0mQ
  7. ^ http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/news/newsid=1713508/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_box_2
  8. ^ a b http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/news/newsid=1974233/index.html
  9. ^ www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKAevl6hrQk
  10. ^ http://www.standard.net/stories/2011/12/19/valderrama-colombian-soccer-mess
  11. ^ http://foreign.peacefmonline.com/sports/201201/87482.php
  12. ^
  13. ^ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2042862/comments.html#comments
  14. ^ http://deportes.terra.com.co/futbol/mundial-2014/eliminatorias/seleccion-colombia-cae-con-venezuela-1-0-y-pierde-invicto,8ebbe350269ad310VgnVCM4000009bcceb0aRCRD.html
  15. ^ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2104443/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_box_3
  16. ^ http://deportes.terra.com/futbol/futbol-colombiano/colombia-argentina-rivalidad-llena-de-historia-y-anecdotas,040ba079b8c42310VgnVCM3000009af154d0RCRD.html
  17. ^ a b c Colfútbol. "Historia Colfútbol". 
  18. ^ www.cali.gov.co. "Historia Pascual Guerrero". 
  19. ^ a b c Futbolred/El Tiempo. "Cuando la Selección se vistió de Colombia". 
  20. ^ "Colombia Sudamericano 1957". 
  21. ^ Youtube. "El Olímpico". 
  22. ^ www.guayaquilcaliente.com. "Eliminatorias 1965". 
  23. ^ www.arcotriunfal.com. "Colombia 1971". 
  24. ^ www.elcolombiano.com. "Colombia 1975". 
  25. ^ bestiariodelbalon.com. "Colombia Le Coq Sportif". 
  26. ^ www.arcotriunfal.com. "Colombia 1984". 
  27. ^ tierranegra77.blogspot.com. "Colombia 1984". 
  28. ^ bestiariodelbalon.com. "Colombia 1985". 
  29. ^ bestiariodelbalon.com. "Colombia 1985". 
  30. ^ bestiariodelbalon.com. "La selección más bestiarista de todos los tiempos". 
  31. ^ bestiariodelbalon.com. "Dos de nosotros no son como los otros". 
  32. ^ bestiariodelbalon.com. "Especiales del Bestiario: Copa Ciudad de Bogotá 1988". 
  33. ^ www.gettyimages.com. "Copa América 1989". 
  34. ^ www.gettyimages.com. "World Cup Qualifier 1989". 
  35. ^ www.gettyimages.com. "1990 World Cup Finals". 
  36. ^ football-uniform.seesaa.net. "Colombia 1991 Kelme". 
  37. ^ www.gettyimages.com. "Sport. Football. Copa América. 1991.". 
  38. ^ bestiariodelbalon.com. "Colombia preolímpica 1992". 
  39. ^ www.gettyimages.com. "The Copa América 1993". 
  40. ^ www.gettyimages.com. "Switzerland v colombia 1994". 
  41. ^ www.gettyimages.com. "1998 World Cup Finals". 
  42. ^ www.elcolombiano.com. "El Gobierno pone en jaque al fútbol". 
  43. ^ www.eltiempo.com. "Nuevo uniforme de Colombia será presentado en marzo del 2011". 
  44. ^ www.elcolombiano.com. "Imagen uniforme adidas Colombia (preliminar)". 
  45. ^ http://www.eltiempo.com/deportes/futbol/renuncia-del-bolillo-gomez-a-la-seleccion-colombia_10199884-4
  46. ^ http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=1373159&s=mundial&type=story

External links[edit]

Titles[edit]

Achievements
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Preceded by
1999 – BrazilBrazil		 South American Champions
2001 (First title)		 Succeeded by
2004 – BrazilBrazil
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