Without any trophies to show for it, James Rodríguez has enjoyed one of the greatest international careers in the history of the Colombia national team.
While his club career has been marked by ups and downs, he has almost always produced his best football in a Colombia shirt, becoming the face of the national team for more than a decade.
When you think of James, you think of players like Memo Ochoa, Asamoah Gyan, Lukas Podolski, Eduardo Vargas, among others. Guys that didn’t always do it at club level, but when they put on their national colours, they became a different proposition altogether.
His last club, Minnesota United of Major League Soccer did not take up the option in June to extend his five month stay at the club through to December 2026, but instead said he would “depart the club to prepare for the 2026 World Cup.”
He only made six league appearancea for Minnesota in his time there. A lack of fitness and a manager in Minnesota who chose not to alter his tactics for the Colombian had left Rodriguez with little evidence to show his ability to the fullest coming into the 2026 World Cup.
Is he past it? Can he still perform for Colombia at the highest level in 2026? James made his senior debut for Colombia in 2011 and quickly established himself as the team’s creative heartbeat. Blessed with exceptional vision, passing range and a powerful left foot, he became the player around whom Colombia’s attack was built.
It was only two summers ago when Rodriguez was named the best player at the 2024 Copa America where he was crowned the best player at the tournament after narrowly missing out on gold in a 1-0 loss to champions Argentina.
This is a man that has been placed by some in the same echelon as Carlos Valderrama, Radamel Falcao, Faustino Asprilla. Greats of Colombian football that were impactful and decisive in their best years. And to be fair to James, he has had big moments for Los Cafeteros.
Your mind immediately goes to 2014 where he ran riot in Brazil. Scoring in every game he played in the World Cup – including a stunning volley against Uruguay – put the whole world on notice about the then 23 year old, earning himself a move to La Liga giants Real Madrid from Monaco.
He walked away from that tournament with the Golden Boot scoring six goals, the final one being a late consolation penalty against hosts Brazil in Colombia’s first ever quarter final appearance. But he just simply could not live up to the hype. After a decent start in the Spanish capital, he was not able to find the consistency in his game to play at the top level and after a two year loan spell at Bayern Munich, his club career went downhill from there.
Spells at Everton, Al-Rayyan, Olympiacos, Sāo Paulo, Rayo Vallecano and Leon have followed before his latest stop stateside, and he has just not been able to recapture that magic of 2014. And at 34 years of age approaching 35 in July, you get the feeling he’ll never get it back.
But you hope that one of the best to ever do it for Colombia can summon up some of that magic from Brazil one last time in America.
