The national football team of Colombia very often goes by the nickname Los Cafeteros (the coffee brewers). The team played its first game in 1938 in a 3-1 loss against México at the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games. During the early years, Colombia was never a team that was well respected or feared by the world’s top teams. It wasn’t until the 1990’s, otherwise known as the golden era, that team began to shine. A team that was led by now legendary players such as Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama, Faustino Asprilla, and René “El Loco” Higuita gave the national team some prestige. The team’s most historic match was a game against Argentina in the 1994 world cup qualifiers in Buenos Aires. The game ended in a 0-5 win for the cafeteros. The team entered the 1994 world cup as one of the favorites to win, but ultimately flopped and faced early elimination. In 2001, Colombia hosted the Copa América (a tournament between the South American national teams plus two invited guests) and won the tournament. This is the only trophy Colombia ever won. Then came the depression era where Colombia failed to qualify for three consecutive world cups. The team ended this by qualifying for the 2014 world cup in Brasil and making it to the quarter finals with a team led by today’s star, James Rodríguez. This was Colombia’s best run ever in a world cup. Colombia then qualified for the 2018 world cup in Russia but went out in the 16^thround losing to England in a penalty shootout. In Colombia football is a passion and we communicate to the rest of the world with our football and our national team.

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