Colombia Tickets

Football is comfortably the most-followed and popular sport in Colombia.

Supporters of Los Cafeteros are extremely passionate and take great pride in their national team. Use SeatPick to help you find reliable tickets to see Colombia play.

History of the Colombia National Football Team

The Colombian Football Federation (FCF) was founded in 1924 and it gained affiliation with both FIFA and CONMEBOL in 1936.

The Colombia national soccer team played its first official international fixture in 1926, a 4-1 victory over Costa Rica.

Los Cafeteros took part in a major tournament for the first time at the South American Championship (today known as Copa America) in 1945. Their first appearance at the World Cup came in 1962.

Colombia achieved its highest FIFA world ranking (3rd) around the time of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Colombia at the FIFA World Cup

Colombia qualified for the 1962 World Cup, but failed to win any of its three group matches. After that, the South American country continually failed to qualify for the World Cup finals for almost 30 years.

That barren run come to an end when Los Cafeteros participated in the 1990 event in Italy. Colombia advanced to the knockouts for the first time but lost to Cameroon in the last-16.

In 1994, Andres Escobar scored an own goal against the United States, contributing to Colombia's exit from the tournament, shortly after which the defender was fatally gunned down in his native Colombia.

Colombia once again fell short at the group stage in 1998, courtesy of defeats to Romania and England.

Following a 16-year absence from the World Cup finals, Colombia returned to the showpiece event in 2014. The South Americans progressed to the quarter-finals for the first time, as James Rodriguez picked up the Golden Boot for most goals at the tournament, though they would lose to host nation Brazil in Fortaleza.

In 2018, the Colombians reached the knockout phase at back-to-back World Cup events for the first time. The men in yellow topped their group with victories over Poland and Senegal but ultimately succumbed to defeat at the hands of England on penalties.

Colombia failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and will look to return to the expanded 2026 edition in America.

Colombia at Other Major Tournaments

Colombia won the Copa America title for the first time in 2001, in what was the 16th edition of the tournament featuring Los Cafeteros.

This was a remarkable achievement, no less on home soil, as Colombia became the first and only team to not concede a goal throughout a Copa America tournament since the spectacle adopted its current name in 1975.

Until then, the nation's best result at the continental showpiece came in 1975 when they were defeated by Peru in the final. Colombia had also claimed a third-place finish in 1987, 1993 and 1995 after losing to the eventual champions on all three occasions.

Colombia won the bronze medal at Copa America Centenario in 2016, having lost to Chile in the semis, and once again three years later when they were beaten by Argentina.

Best Colombia Football Players

Carlos Valderrama earned 111 caps and captained Colombia at three World Cup events in 1990, 1994 and 1998. Another Colombian icon from the 90s, Rene Higuita mostly played for local teams. The goalkeeper's claim to fame is perhaps his inventive scorpion kick save against England at Wembley Stadium in 1995.

David Ospina is the most-capped Colombia international of all time. The goalkeeper made his debut in 2007, aged 18, and has gone on to amass more than 125 caps. At club level, he notably represented Arsenal and Napoli.

James Rodriguez set the world alight at the 2014 World Cup as he starred while guiding his country to the quarter-finals. Playing for AS Monaco at the time, Rodriguez scored six goals including a fabulous volley from long range against Uruguay which won him the Puskas Award for the best goal of the year.

Following his World Cup heroics, the attacking midfielder was subject to a €75 million transfer to Real Madrid and later also joined Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

Radamel Falcao truly made his name whilst playing for Atletico Madrid, having joined from FC Porto in 2011. 'El Tigre' was named in the FIFPro World XI the following year before reuniting with countryman Rodriguez at Monaco. An ACL injury ruled Falcao out of the 2014 World Cup and he went on to have unsuccessful loan spells with Manchester United and Chelsea before switching to Galatasaray in the Turkish Super Lig.

Juan Cuadrado also had a stint with English Premier League side Chelsea, before representing both Juventus and Inter Milan in the Italian Serie A. The winger has earned upwards of 115 caps for Colombia.

Retired defender Mario Yepes wore his national team colours on more than 100 occasions and he had been on the books of Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, making almost 200 appearances combined.

Luis Diaz made the move to Liverpool in 2022 while international teammate Yerry Mina plied his trade with Everton in the blue half of Merseyside. Davinson Sanchez played for Tottenham Hotspur more than 200 times.

Colombia National Football Team – Home Stadium

The majority of Colombia's home matches are contested at Estadio Metropolitano in Barranquilla. This stadium has a 46,000 capacity and it hosted the 2021 Copa America final, as Argentina beat Brazil by a single goal to zero.

An alternative venue for international games in Colombia is the 39,000-seater Estadio El Campín in Bogotá.