One question for each 2026 World Cup team. Can James Rodriguez hold up for one more magical World Cup for Colombia?
Would you love me in a Bentley? Would you love me on a $95 bus from downtown Boston to Gillette Stadium? Footnote is asking 48 questions, and they’re all about the 48 teams at the 2026 World Cup. This post is part of our Group K preview. You can also read previews of DR Congo, Portugal, and Uzbekistan.
Can James Rodriguez hold up for one more magical World Cup for Colombia?
In the age of the internet, James Rodriguez might be the last player to truly announce himself at the World Cup.
It’s not like he came completely out of nowhere. Before the 2014 World Cup, Rodriguez was a known quantity to those who closely follow Portuguese, French, or Colombian soccer. After an impressive three seasons with Porto, James had just put together a strong debut season with Monaco in 2013-2014 and seemed poised to be a star player in their return to the Champions League.
But still, few predicted what happened in Brazil: A soaring, six goal summer of magic in which every dribble, every pass, every shot seemed to turn into gold. He scored on headers, he scored on absurd volleys, he scored on ankle-breaking carries. He was no longer just James. He was Bond, James Rodriguez, global superstar and subject of one of the most baffling newspaper headlines of all time.
What followed instead was a stop-start career, with halting moments of brilliance interrupted by seemingly never-ending injuries. When James could string games together, he was frequently excellent. All in all, James was able to cobble together a fairly impressive club career, contributing to title-winning teams for Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and playing one cult beloved season at Everton.
But somehow, 2014 remains his only healthy World Cup. Injured yet again in 2018, James was able to play just enough in Russia to provide two assists in a victory over Poland before he was forced to sit out Colombia’s round of 16 elimination to England. Then Colombia failed to qualify for 2022, finishing one point shy of an inter-continential playoff spot.
This summer, James will finally fully return to the World Cup, and he will do so with maybe the best Colombian squad in a generation. Los Cafeteros are ranked seventh by ELO, putting them in an elite tier of potential contenders.
Colombia are coming off a run the the 2024 Copa America finals, and one source of optimism for their attack is that they are not completely reliant on James to generate goals and chances. Luis Diaz is the new center of gravity on the wings for Colombia, a skilled and dynamic winger who just produced 26 goals and 19 assists for Bayern Munich in all competitions.
At striker, Colombia have two in-form options in Cucho Hernandez, who scored 11 league goals for Real Betis in Spain last year, and Luis Suarez,1Not that one fresh off leading the Portuguese league with 28 goals for Sporting.
The biggest questions for Colombia will be defensive. Their goalkeeper will likely be the 37-year-old Camilo Vargas in net, who started most of World Cup qualifying. Vargas has had a solid career, but he is a competent goalkeeper for one of the smaller teams in Mexico not a major global star. The center of defense will be anchored by Davinson Sanchez, who similarly has had a solid career but also a spotted history of high-profile mistakes over the course of his time with Tottenham.
Colombia will hope to take care of securing a knockout stage berth beforehand, but the moment of the entire group stage might be the last match of Group K. Colombia’s faceoff against Portugal will not only pit the most closely-matched group stage competitors against each other, it will also take place at the heart of south Florida, a region home to an estimated 536,283 Colombian Americans. It promises to be among the most electric early atmospheres of the tournaments.
The stage is set for James to take a bow in the same tournament where he first made his name. A great supporting cast, and a huge following of dedicated fans eagerly awaiting just one more World Cup moment.
That James-inspired run to the 2014 quarterfinal remains Colombia’s best-ever World Cup, and their only ever knockout stage victory. If James can stay healthy for just one more World Cup, he has a chance to finally have his World Cup encore.
