At the women’s level there will also be enormous challenges, among which is the Copa América, to be held from July 12 to August 2 in Ecuador.
As for clubs, the commitment is great: to demonstrate that the performance, which is considered very good at home, is also good on the continent.
THE NEW CENTURY presents an overview of what awaits national football next year on an international level.
- At Under-20. The first big challenge of the year will be for the Colombia Under-20 National Team, in the South American Championship, to be played from January 23 to February 16 in Venezuela.
The tournament grants four places for the World Cup in Chile. The first objective of those led by César Torres will be to qualify for the second round and then opt for one of the tickets to the ecumenical contest.
Colombia already knows what it is to celebrate winning a title in this category and that will be another purpose: to compete for the crown against the always favorites Brazil and Argentina.
The national representative is part of Group B, along with Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina, a zone called ‘death’.
On the first day the national team rests, so coach Torres will have the opportunity to analyze each of the rivals.
The squad includes players with some professional experience, such as Carlos Saravia and Nirse Villarreal from Millonarios and others who belong to foreign clubs, such as Yeimar Mosquera (Real Unión de España), Óscar Perea (Racing de France), Keimer Sandoval (Real Betis de Spain) or Alejandro Villarreal (Santos of Brazil).
This competition represents the possibility of going to the World Cup for the National Team and is a launching platform for the players, since observers from big clubs monitor each of the matches.
- In older people. For the Senior National Team, the great challenge is to resume the path along which coach Néstor Lorenzo led them to the Copa América in the United States, in which they lost the final 1-0 against Argentina.
Up to that point, the national representative went undefeated for a long time and as second in the 2026 World Cup qualifier, with the possibility of chasing Argentina, but from then on the year was lost.
In 2025, the eleventh country will start as fourth in the qualifying round for the United States, Mexico and Canada, but with Brazil one point away, Paraguay two, and although Bolivia and Venezuela are a little further apart, they represent a risk for the aspiration of classify directly.
Colombia cannot afford to finish another double day without scoring, as happened in November.
The first challenge is huge, no less than in the face of a Brazil that needs to shake itself up and climb positions.
A defeat would mean for Lorenzo’s team to give up fourth place to the Auriverdes and, if the Guaraníes defeat Chile, fall to sixth place.
Then, on matchday 14, Colombia will host Paraguay and at least should end with three points, although the ideal would be to get a draw against the five-time world champions at home.
- The feminine. For the representative national women’s country, the great challenge is to win the Copa América title. As part of his preparation he will compete in the SheBelieves Cup.
There they will have as rivals, on Thursday, February 20, the United States and on Sunday, February 23, Japan.
The continental tournament will be played from July 12 to August 2 in Ecuador, a country that has hosted the championship in 2010 and 2014. On both occasions, Colombia took second place.
For the new edition of 2025, Group B of the ‘Sele’ will be Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela and Bolivia as rivals.
The championship will grant three places for the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, where Peru would also already be classified. Likewise, it will give two places to the 2028 Olympic Games.
- At club level. The challenges for Colombian teams at the international level are the Libertadores de América and Suramericana cups.
Santa Fe and Tolima are qualified for the first tournament, in its preliminary phase, while Bucaramanga and Nacional will play from the group stage.
For the second continental tournament they have a place for Junior, who will face América, and Once Caldas, who will receive Millonarios.
In the Libertadores, the challenge for ‘Cardenales’ and ‘Pijaos’ is to advance, in the first instance, to the group stage and survive until the round of 16 or more.
In the case of Bucaramanga, whatever you do is profit. This will be his second adventure in the competition and if he manages to reach the round of 16, he will be well served.
The obligation to seek the title and demonstrate that Colombian football at the club level has recovered its competitive level is National.
The purslane team, twice winner of the competition, however, will have to reinforce its defensive work, since, although it won the title, it left doubts regarding its solidity in the rearguard and in a tournament like this one cannot only bet that the goalkeeper David Ospina always be the savior.
As for South America, two of our people will survive. In the Junior-America duel, for now there is no clear favorite, while in the Once Caldas-Millonarios match, the blues are expected to take the first step towards achieving their goal of being finalists in an international tournament.