Colombia’s national football team departed on June 4, 2026, for North America to compete in the FIFA World Cup. The farewell ceremony included President Gustavo Petro presenting the national flag.
The delegation took off from Bogotá bound for San Diego, United States, where it will play a friendly match against Jordan on June 7. It will then travel to Mexico for its Group K debut on June 17 against Uzbekistan at the Azteca Stadium. During the ceremony at the Military Air Transport Command, Petro handed a vueltiao hat to each player and said: “You represent the country in all its corners, dreams and illusions. As a team you must have humility and the Colombian people want you to be the first”. Ramón Jesurún, president of the Colombian Football Federation, thanked the institutional support. Some media reported that images of the encounter showed distant greetings and that James Rodríguez did not respond to a photo request from the president’s daughter. No player issued public statements about the episode. The event coincided with a provisional court order banning use of the national team jersey in political campaigns while a tutela is resolved.
