Still with the wound open left by the 2-1 defeat against Croatia last Thursday, which meant losing a prolonged unbeaten run in friendly matches, the Colombia national team faces this Sunday the powerful France, one of the favorites to win the 2026 World Cup. The cafeteros need a victory to recover their morale and get on track toward the last two preparation matches in Bogota, on May 28 against Costa Rica, and in San Diego (United States), on June 7 against Jordan. After that comes the World Cup.
That is where the importance of the match against the French in Washington, at 3:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. Colombian time): Colombia will face the last opponent with specific weight that it has ahead, which in the previous matchday defeated without much effort five-time champion Brazil. The French team has two World Cup titles (1998 and 2018), and a constellation led by its captain Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), accompanied by other stars such as Ousmane Dembele (PSG), Randal Kolo Muani (Tottenham Hotspur), and Michael Olise (Bayern Munich).
Colombia, to show what its stars are worth
Colombia also has its stars, such as Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich), Luis Suarez (Sporting de Lisboa), James Rodriguez (Minnesota), Juanfer Quintero (River Plate), Richard Rios (Benfica), Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace), Jhon Arias (Palmeiras), Daniel Munoz (Crystal Palace), Johan Mojica (Mallorca), Davinson Sanchez (Galatasaray), and Camilo Vargas (Atlas). But none of them shone in the match against Croatia, which led coach Nestor Lorenzo to make eight changes in the second half. But even with that, he was unable to overcome the Croatians.
This Saturday, the Colombia national team held its second and final training session in the cold US capital with the 26 called-up players, all available for the match against France. One of them, defender Santiago Arias, appeared between optimistic and cautious when speaking about the match.
“Whoever the opponent in front of us is, we go with the same intention, which is to win, to keep improving, to keep growing, to try to make the fewest possible mistakes because, even though it is a friendly match, we know that we can face teams like this one [France] in the World Cup. And in the World Cup, when there are mistakes, those details are punished and you are out,” Arias said in a press conference. “The important thing is this learning, this lesson that the match against Croatia leaves us, and what this match against France is going to give us will be very important for what is coming.”
The two teams have already faced each other on five occasions since 1972, when the French defeated the cafeteros 3-2; later, in 1993, Colombia defeated France 3-1. In 2003 the French again beat the Colombians 1-0, and in 2008 they repeated the result. In the preparations for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, at the Parc des Princes, Colombia defeated France 3-2, which would later be crowned world champion that year.
France coach praises Colombia
Didier Deschamps, the France coach, aware of the stars he leads, also recognized on the eve the Colombian figures and had words of praise for the Colombia national team. “This team has a lot of quality at the offensive level. There are many players who are playing in Europe. What I have seen during Colombia’s matches is a difficult team, and in terms of the offensive level they also have very decisive players,” he said at a press conference.
Now it only remains for the Colombians not only to show the level that Deschamps sees in them, but also to once again fill with hope the millions of supporters who want to believe that the French coach is right. Expectations for this team are enormous, among other things, because practically all of its members play in the most important leagues in the world, with outstanding ratings.
The match will have a local refereeing crew, made up of US referees: Victor Rivas will be the central referee; Felisha Mariscal, the assistant one, and Chris Elliott, the assistant two. The fourth referee will be Rubiel Vasquez.