will face Venezuela at the Roberto Meléndez Metropolitano Stadium in Barranquilla this Thursday night in what will be the opening match of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. This is despite the fact that Colombia failed to qualify for the recent World Cup in Qatar, while Venezuela has yet to reach a World Cup final round in its soccer history.
Nestor Lorenzo has been unbeaten in Colombia since he took over as head coach last summer. The player, who was instrumental in getting 13 international caps, has now led his team to six wins and two draws in eight matches in Colombia's coaching career. Colombia's 2-0 victory in their last friendly against Germany was arguably the most impressive win of his career.
However, Lorenzo is also aware that this Thursday's qualifier against Venezuela will be the real test of his coaching ability, as success in reaching the next World Cup is the minimum expectation.
On the other hand, Venezuela understands that they have a big challenge ahead of them, as they will have to play in the United States, Mexico and Canada in less than three years, while they have placed at the bottom of the last two CONMEBOL qualifiers.
While Venezuela was once ranked as high as 25th in the world rankings four years ago, they have slipped more than 30 places in the time since and are now 57th in FIFA's world ranking system.
However, they are looking to be more competitive in this qualifying campaign. New head coach Fernando Batista has already won three and drawn one of their four friendlies, and will be hoping for at least one positive result in their upcoming matches against Colombia and Paraguay to boost their confidence in making history.
Looking at the team setup, Colombian captain David Ospina is currently out with an injury, meaning Juan Cuadrado could wear the captain's armband in the former Arsenal goalkeeper's absence. And in goal, Camilo Vargas will be looking to keep a clean sheet from their last game against Germany. As for the Venezuelan side, their captain Tomas Rincón will almost certainly play his 127th game for his country in Barranquilla, while former West Bromwich Albion striker Salomon Rondon is just four games short of joining Rincón's 100-game club.
Overall, the Colombian team is clearly superior to Venezuela in terms of individual skill, especially Diaz who has already scored two goals for Liverpool in the league this season. Therefore, the prediction for this match is that Colombia could beat Venezuela 2-0.
