Colombia World Cup preview: Díaz and James carry the hopes

Colombia kick off their World Cup campaign on 11 June against Uzbekistan, riding the momentum of a recent friendly win in which Arias bagged a brace. The squad enters the tournament with Luis Díaz as its primary attacking spark, while the entire setup continues to revolve around James Rodríguez's creativity in the final third (1). Néstor Lorenzo used the warm-up matches to settle on a likely starting eleven, with several Flamengo players forming the core of the side.