First Touch ’26 - Colombia

First Touch | World Soccer · Dec 27, 2025 · 15m

No country rides the emotional roller coaster of the World Cup quite like Colombia. In this World Cup Capsule, David Gass tells the story of Los Cafeteros—a team of dazzling highs and devastating lows, back on the biggest stage after an eight-year absence. We go from the game’s beginnings in Barranquilla and the wild “El Dorado” era, when Colombia briefly hosted the world’s best league, through the joyful, chaotic 1990s: Carlos Valderrama’s iconic hair and passes, René Higuita’s scorpion kick, the rising hopes of a new South American powerhouse—and the tragedy of Andrés Escobar’s own goal and…