The team is nick-named Los Cafeteros (The Coffee Growers) due to the coffee production in their country.

Since the mid-1980s, the national team has been a symbol fighting the country’s negative reputation. This has made the sport popular and made the national team a sign of nationalism, pride and passion for many colombians worldwide. They’re known for having a passionate fan base. Colombia had its strongest period during the 1990s. A match, in 1993, resulted in a 0–5 win over Argentina which began a special “mutual respect” rivalry between both nations. The goalkeeper René Higuita achieved fame from his eccentric scorpion kick clearance against England at Wembley Stadium in 1995.

During the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Colombia showed improvement over the 2011 Copa América, bringing its rank up to the top ten for the first time since 2002 and into the top five consistently for the first time since 2004. After a 16-year-long wait, in 2014 Colombia finally returned to the World Cup, where they were able to advance to the quarter-finals, the furthest Colombia has ever made it in a World Cup. Colombia’s midfielder James Rodríguez won two awards, the Golden Boot for most goals and Best Goal of the Tournament.

First game: Colombia vs Japan (19/06)

Star: James Rodriguez

James became well known in Europe during his time at the portuguese team Porto, winning several trophies and individual awards during his three years at the club.

In 2014, his amazing performances in the World Cup led the colombian team to the semi-final, where it got defeated by Brazil. Even though Colombia didn’t win the World Cup, James Rodriguez received the Golden Boot for finishing as the top scorer at the 2014 Fifa World Cup and the award for the Best Goal of the Tournament.

Coach: José Pékerman

José Pékerman is an argentine football coach and current manager of colombian national football team. As a youth level coach for Argentina, he won the FIFA World Youth Championship three times and the U20 South American Youth Championship twice. He coached the Argentine national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and became coach of the Colombian national team in 2012. For the colombian team, Pékerman achieved top 10 in the 2014 World Cup.

Group: Poland, Senegal, Japan.