James Rodríguez, emotional as Colombia returns to the World Cup

James Rodríguez stood in a packed Estadio Ciudad de México and felt the weight of Colombia’s long wait lift into something more demanding. As the anthem echoed through the former Estadio Azteca, Colombia returned to the FIFA World Cup after missing Qatar 2022, and the emotion around the moment made clear this was not only a comeback but a national reckoning.

The 17 June 2026 victory over Uzbekistan opened Colombia’s Group K campaign and put the team on a path through a section that also includes Portugal and Congo DR. Colombia is playing its seventh World Cup, but the return carried added pressure because the country had spent eight years away from the tournament. That absence has sharpened expectations around a squad trying to move beyond memories of 2014 and into another deep run.

James remains the central figure in that story. At 34, he is in his third World Cup after Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018, and he remains Colombia’s all-time leading scorer in the tournament with six goals. His name still carries the imprint of Brazil 2014, when Colombia reached the quarterfinals, its best World Cup finish, before losing 2-1 to the hosts. For a team that has not matched that peak since, James is both a reminder of what Colombia once achieved and a measure of what it now expects again.

The emotional return is also tied to what the failure to reach Qatar 2022 meant inside the squad. In March 2022, James said the absence of Colombia from the World Cup hurt deeply and that the country needed to reunite its efforts to get back to the biggest stage. That message now frames this campaign, in which James and Luis Díaz spoke about the pride of hearing the anthem and reconnecting with Colombia’s roots as the national side came back to the tournament.

Néstor Lorenzo has been crucial to that shift. FIFA has pointed to the coach’s role in restoring James to a central place in the team, and the midfielder was a regular starter throughout qualification. Colombia secured its place for 2026 with a match to spare, finishing third in South American qualifying with 28 points. The result against Uzbekistan gave that work an immediate reward, while reactions from Daniel Muñoz and Gustavo Puerta underlined how much the opening win mattered to the group.

For Colombia, the return is no longer about simply showing up. After eight years away, the pressure has come back with the anthem, the stadium noise and the memory of 2014, and James Rodríguez is once again carrying both.