All about the Colombia Team at Football World Cup 2018
2018 was a much awaited year by the football family, and it is finally here with the 2018 FIFA World Cup set to take place in Russia between June 14th and July 15th. The tournament brings together 32 football teams from all over the world to compete in the most prestigious football tournament on earth. Colombia will be among the teams that will participate in this year's showpiece as it hopes to lift the title for the first time having reached the quarterfinals in the 2014 showpiece that was staged in Brazil. The team was drawn in Group H alongside Poland, Senegal, and Japan. Its first match will be against Japan on June 19th at the Saransk Stadium.
Tips for Betting on Colombia in the World Cup 2018
Colombia will be heading to the 2018 FIFA World Cup 2018 looking to build on their superb run to the last eight in 2014 in Brazil. Although they don’t have the richest World Cup history, Colombia portrays a football team that is steadily improving which should excite the fans of betting. Colombia had a good run during the qualification stages before they experienced a slight dip in form although they managed to finish in the final automatic qualification position by a single point above Peru. The Team will be playing in what is perceived as the weakest group in world cup 2018 against Japan, Senegal, and Poland.
The team currently revolves around James Rodriguez and Monaco forward who is also the country’s all-time top scorer, Radamel Falcao. Radamel has scored 28 goals for his country, and we expect him to score some more goals in Russia. Being a compact and defensive-minded but extremely good at counter-attack, we hope Colombia will produce exciting performances in Russia.
As a result of this counter-attacking style of Jose Pekerman, we expect to see their matches’ having more corners, probably more than five corners per match and goals. Attacking midfielder James Rodriguez is currently on loan at Bayern Munich trying to rediscover his form before June.
Colombia are priced as favourites to win Group H, but we expect stiff competition from Poland led by their star-man Robert Lewandowski and Senegal under the influence of Sadio Mane. Being a disciplined team, we don’t expect many yellow cards or red cards in their matches, but the most interesting match that will put Colombia to real test is their opening match against Japan given that they edged out the Asian giants from the 2014 competition. You can consider betting Colombia as outright winners in their group stages or bank on a high number of corners in their matches.
Betting Odds on Colombia to Win the World Cup 2018
Germany and Brazil emerged as the joint-favourites to win this year’s showpiece after the draw on December 1 but how do the odds favour Colombia? Given that the South American giant has never won the tournament, most of the odds and expert opinions don’t favour Colombia as potential cup winners. They enter into the championship as underdogs.
Expected Colombia Lineup at the World Cup
Colombia played its last World Cup qualifying match against Peru in what was a fiercely contested match since both teams wanted a victory to guarantee their place in Russia. The match ended in a 1-1 draw which saw both teams qualify for the world while locking out Chile. The team was led by their star man Radamel Falcao and also included James Rodriguez who scored the equaliser. Arsenal Goalkeeper David Ospina also kept his place in the starting line-up, but Coach Jose Pekerman once again left out striker Carlos Bacca.
Few changes were made to the team that had previously lost their home match against Paraguay. Oscar Murillo, Davison Sanchez, and Santiago Arias also kept their places in the starting eleven while Duván Zapata combined well with Radamel Falcao in the attacking role. The midfield featured James Rodriguez, Abel Aguilar, and Juan Cuadrado.
The star man in the match against Peru was James Rodriguez is expected to be a focal point for the Colombia midfield in Russia. However, Coach Jose has insisted that the no one has a guaranteed place in his team unless he works hard to earn it. This may leave the youngster in an awkward situation since he is still struggling to find his best form at Bayern Munich. James Rodriguez managed to score six goals and provided four assists to his teammates during the world cup qualification matches.
Although Radamel Falcao was accused of urging the Peru stars to go slow in their final game so that both teams could qualify for the competition, he doesn’t expect much competition from Giovanni Moreno and Carlos Bacca in the starting eleven even though he is not in the best form even at the club level.
Coach Jose Pekerman is always known to favour the 4-2-3-1 formation due to lack of many players who can effectively play in the attacking role. He usually organises his team in a compact defensive style and relies on counter attacks to destroy the opponent. We don’t expect this norm to change, but he has sometimes adopted the 4-4-2 formation whenever he is playing two forwards.
David Ospina is expected to retain his place in the starting eleven, but the coach is frustrated due to lack of sufficient playing time for the Colombian at the Emirates Stadium. He is expected to be deputised by Camilo Vargas and Leandro Castellanos. The coach has always been keen on playing four defenders in his games. Although he has no preferred defence set up, he mostly relied on Frank Fabra at the left back position, Oscar Murillo at the right-back, and Davidson Sanchez and Santiago Arias as his two centre-backs. The other defenders that featured in the qualification matches include Eder Balanta, Stefan Medina, and William Tesillo.
James Rodriguez has been the pillar of the midfield since the 2014 World Cup. He is an exciting talent that will still make a significant impact in Russia if things work out well for him. Pekerman prefers splitting the midfield into two-the defending midfielders and the attacking midfielders. The midfielders who featured during the qualification matches include Carlos Sanchez, Abel Aguilar, James Rodriguez, Giovanni Moreno, Juan Cuadrado, Mateus Uribe, Jefferson Lemar, Wilmar Barrios, and Aviles Hurtado.
Although Radamel Falcao is a key talisman for the team, we expect him to compete for a spot in the starting lineup against the in-form Duván Zapata, Carlos Bacca, and Felipe Pardo. However, Pekerman has always preferred playing Radamel Falcao as a lone striker. The other strikers who may also feature include Jose Izquierdo, Miguel Borja, and Teofilo Gutierez.
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James Rodriguez
James Rodriguez made an instant impact in Brazil in 2014 when he helped the team qualify for the quarterfinals. He went on to win the Adidas Golden Boot and signed for Real Madrid after the competition. Although he experienced a dip in form after signing for Real Madrid, he is currently on loan at Bayern Munich trying to rediscover himself. He also won two FIFA Club World Cup titles with Real Madrid.
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Radamel Falcao
He is the country’s all-time top scorer with 28 goals to his name. It took the genius intervention of Falcao to earn Colombia a point while trailing to the then group leaders Brazil on their home soil. He was the top scorer at Monaco in 2016-2017 season helping Monaco lift the League 1 title.
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