The World Cup may have been played less than a year ago, but CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup qualifying will kick off this week. Rivals Colombia will host Venezuela in Barranquilla.
Colombia and Venezuela have a long-standing rivalry on the football pitch that dates to their first international encounter in 1938. These teams met 50 times previously, with Colombia posting a record of 26W-17D-7L.
📸 ¡𝗟𝗼𝘀 🔝 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘆! 😜🤟#TodosSomosColombia 🇨🇴 pic.twitter.com/JNaHryVDRu— Selección Colombia (@FCFSeleccionCol) September 7, 2023
📸 ¡𝗟𝗼𝘀 🔝 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘆! 😜🤟#TodosSomosColombia 🇨🇴 pic.twitter.com/JNaHryVDRu
Colombia went unbeaten in their last seven matches in all competitions against Venezuela in all competitions. Their last meeting was in March 2022 in FIFA World Cup qualifying. Colombia won the match 1-0.
Venezuela are often seen as the underdog in South American football. La Vinotinto missed out on qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.Colombia also missed out on the World Cup in 2022.
The 2026 edition of the tournament will have additional places available. The top six teams in CONMEBOL qualifying will progress to the World Cup.The seventh-place team will play in the inter-confederation playoffs.
Colombia are in fine form in 2023. They go into the match on Thursday night (Friday in Europe) unbeaten in 2023.
Los Cafeteros surprised the football world with a 2-0 win in June over Germany. The win was Colombia’s third in a roll.
Despite being the underdog of South American football, Venezuela go into the first match of World Cup qualifying in fine form.
They are unbeaten in their last seven matches in all competitions. Venezuela scored 1.0 goals in each of their last three games.
Venezuela do not have a strong squad in terms of talent. The majority of the players compete in leagues in North and South America. River Plate’s Salomon Rondon is the team’s top scorer with 39 international goals. Inter Miami’s Josef Martinez could start in attack. He has 14 international goals.
Colombia winger Luis Diaz is in fine form for club team Liverpool. James Rodriguez will likely start in midfield. The Sao Paulo player has 90 caps and 26 career goals. Yerry Mina and Davinson Sanchez could start in defence together.
The opening game of CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying between Colombia and Venezuela should be a low-scoring fixture. Colombia won 26 of their 50 all-time matches against Venezuela.
Los Cafeteros should post another win over Venezuela to kick off the 2026 World Cup qualifying against Venezuela.
Although Venezuela are in good form, their recent wins came against low-quality teams, including Saudi Arabia, Honduras, and Guatemala.