[13] Colombia played its first international match on 17 February 1926 against Costa Rica at the Julio Torres Stadium in Barranquilla, obtaining a 4–1 victory against the Central Americans.

Although failing to qualify for the World Cup, Vidinić continued as coach as Colombia disputed the 1979 Copa América, where they shared Group A with Chile and Venezuela.

Their lack of participation also added to this sporadic support, and despite having qualified for the 1962 FIFA World Cup, the national team remained underachieving, particularly when compared to Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay who were not as worthy perennial challengers as traditional powers Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, either, in spite of their youth football successes.

Under the orders of Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, Colombia was drawn into Group 1 for the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers along with Argentina, Peru, and Venezuela.

Colombia qualified for their first FIFA World Cup since 1962 after winning in Barranquilla 1–0, and tying in Ramat Gan 0–0, with most of the players coming from Atlético Nacional, who Maturana was also managing at the time.

Along with achieving qualification to the 1994 World Cup, Colombia finished top of their qualifying group without having lost a match, which included a historic 0–5 victory over Argentina in Buenos Aires.

"[29] Expectations of the team were high, some even naming them as favorites to win the tournament, as they had only lost one official match over a two-year period from July 1992 going into the World Cup.

During the game, the United States would score first with a 20th-minute goal from Brian McBride, but Colombia quickly tied four minutes later owing to Faustino Asprilla, thus concluding the first half.

The United States would start off the second-half with an early goal from Chris Armas, and when things looked to be in favour for the U.S., Gerardo Bedoya tied the game with nine minutes to spare.

For the semi-finals, the team beat Peru 2–1 and would match up against Canada in the final, however, Colombia failed to lift the trophy after losing 2–0 with goals from Jason de Vos and Carlo Corazzin.

CONCACAF affiliated Honduras were invited, and they arrived on July 13 aboard an aeroplane provided by the Colombian Air Force, after the tournament had already begun and just a few hours before its opening match, with hardly enough players.

Colombia won their first Copa América title by defeating Mexico, another CONCACAF invitee, in the final with a goal from captain Iván Córdoba in the second half.

For the 2002 World Cup, Colombia only managed to place sixth in the qualification round, tied with Uruguay but failing to qualify due to goal difference.

These failures to qualify for the World Cup were mainly a result of constantly changing formations and a dysfunctional rotation of managers which saw Pinto replaced by Eduardo Lara after a 4–0 loss to Chile in September 2008,[49] combined with the struggle to score goals in the last games of the qualification.

Despite this ranking, in the 2011 Copa América, Colombia made a good run, topping their group and achieving a draw to the host nation Argentina.

In September 2011, the Colombian side gained Leonel Álvarez as the new coach following the resignation of Hernán Darío Gómez, but he was sacked after three games with disappointing results, which led to the hiring of José Pékerman in January 2012.

[55] Although World Cup qualification was already secured, Colombia ended their qualifying campaign with a 2–1 victory against Paraguay in Asunción, with two goals from captain and defender Mario Yepes.

[57] Even though the team's record goalscorer Radamel Falcao missed the tournament through injury, Colombia topped off their return in the 2014 World Cup after a 16-year absence by defeating Greece 3–0.

[66] Colombia would then receive the FIFA Fair Play Trophy and have James Rodríguez and Juan Cuadrado end as the World Cup's leading goal scorer and assist leader, respectively.

However, when matches resumed following the COVID-19 pandemic, Colombia's performances declined; notably with their worst home loss in 82 years against Uruguay and a 6–1 defeat by Ecuador.

[95] The Colombian Football Federation announced on 2 June 2022, that it had picked Néstor Lorenzo to replace Rueda as coach of the men's national team for the next four years.

"To achieve results on the pitch and enable Colombia to win trophies," said Colombian Football Association (FCF) Development Director Ivan Novella, setting out the ambitious objectives of Futbol con Futuro.

[97] Up until the Copa America final loss in extra time to Argentina on 14 July 2024, Colombia had gone 28 games undefeated under Lorenzo, which included wins over Germany, Brazil and Spain.

"[100] During Jose Pekerman's coaching for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, considered the rebirth of Colombian football, Venezuela still managed to win their game at home, which was one of only three defeats the Argentinean suffered.

[101] In the group stages of Copa America 1999, another notable match occurred when Colombia won 3-0 with Argentina's star striker Martin Palermo missing three penalty kicks.

The episode sparked much annoyance and anger from Colombia and Colombian supporters while it was praised from the Argentinian side, adding up to the already heated relationship of the teams.

Although the head-to-head record showcases a one-sided advantage for Colombia, the increase of the footballing level in the neighboring nation of Ecuador during recent years has ended in close matches between the two teams.

Colombia plays their qualifying matches and friendlies at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, which is the home stadium of the local football team Atlético Junior.

Notably, El Campín is remembered for hosting Colombia's 2001 Copa América final against Mexico, where the team achieved its first international trophy after winning the match 1–0.

Win Draw Loss Fixture The following 26 players were named in the squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches on 15 and 19 November 2024 against Uruguay and Ecuador, respectively.