James Rodriguez leads Colombia squad missing Jhon Duran for FIFA World Cup 2026
Colombia manager Nestor Lorenzo has announced his 26-man squad for FIFA World Cup 2026.
Nestor Lorenzo leads an exciting and excited Colombia to North America for this summer’s FIFA World Cup 2026 and the Argentine has made a couple of big calls.
Former Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran, now at Zenit Saint-Petersburg after short stints with Al Ittihad and then Fenerbahce, has 17 caps to his name for the Colombians but he has been deemed dispensable by Lorenzo, alongside 30-year-old 44-cap forward Rafael Santos Borre.
Some other surprise absentees from the squad include Vasco da Gama defender Carlos Cuesta and Juventus left-back Juan Cabal, while Juan Cuadrado, with well over 100 caps, has also missed out after being named in the provisional 55-man squad.
The Colombians still have a lot of experience in their squad and will be captained once again by former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich man James Rodriguez, who turns 35 a week before the final in New York/New Jersey.
He is one of several 30+ players throughout their squad with all three goalkeepers falling into that category, headed up by former Arsenal ‘keeper David Ospina. In fact, by the time the tournament kicks off, 13 of their squad will be 30 or over.
The attack is headlined by Bayern Munich winger Luis Diaz, with a couple of impressive and in-form strikers such as Luis Suarez of Sporting CP and Real Betis’ Cucho Hernandez.
The Colombians have quite a strong squad throughout the core, with the likes of Daniel Munoz and Davinson Sanchez at the back and Benfica man Richard Rios in the middle of the park, too.
