Colombia fans arrive early, loud and proud for World Cup match in Miami
Colombian soccer fans, some of the most passionate in the sport, showed up as early as 8 a.m. around Hard Rock Stadium Saturday, more than 11 hours before kickoff of their national team’s World Cup match against Portugal.
By 2:30 p.m., two hours before the gates opened, the line to get in had snaked all the way to the Walmart at the corner of N.W. 27th Ave. and 199th St. There are more than 240,000 Colombians living in South Florida, so this was like a home game for them.
They serenaded “Los Cafeteros” (their team’s nickname) outside the team hotel, the Dalmar Hotel, in Fort Lauderdale Friday night. They showed up outside the team’s training session at Inter Miami Fort Lauderdale stadium on Friday, hoping to get a peek of the team bus. They also turned a “banderazo” (pep rally) at Dolphin Mall into a sea of yellow on Friday.
More than 40,000 Colombian fans were expected in the 64,400-seat stadium for Saturday’s game; and this time, nobody was crashing through the gates without tickets, as thousands did for the 2024 Copa America final against Argentina. Security was extra tight, with three checkpoints, and the mood was festive.
The crowd was filled with yellow Colombia jerseys. The most popular were James Rodriguez’s No. 10 and Luis “Lucho” Diaz’s No. 7, which was as visible as the No. 7 of Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo. Many Colombian fans also wore blonde, curly wigs, an homage to legendary national team star Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama, who played for the Miami Fusion from 1997 to 1999.
Mauricio Cadavid, 41, of Hollywood is a diehard Colombian fan who paid $2,300 for a ticket to the game and arrived at the stadium at 1:30 p.m. He also attended the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and saw Colombia play Uruguay at the iconic Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
“The minute I saw Colombia was playing here in Miami, I knew I had to get a ticket,” Cadavid said. “The team is playing very well and this match they don’t have much pressure because they have already qualified for the knockout round, though we want them to win because that will mean an easier path.”
Cadavid’s favorite player is Diaz, because of his skill and his fighting spirit, but he maintains that the 1994 Colombian team was the best of all time. “That team was the start of the great Colombian teams that followed,” he said.
Sebastian Silva and his son, Martin, traveled to the game from Manizales, Colombia. They are huge Ronaldo fans, but also diehard Colombia fans, so they wore shirts that were half Colombia and half Ronaldo.
“We are rooting for a 3-3 tie, with Ronaldo scoring all three of Portugal’s goals,” the elder Silva said, smiling. “That would be a perfect game.”
But one of the youngest fans at the stadium, Andre Serras, age one, had the same dual loyalty. His mother’s family comes from Colombia. His father’s family comes from Portugal. And both parents are here with him for the game, visiting from New Jersey.
To keep everybody happy, Andre, showed up with a hybrid jersey: Colombia yellow on the left and Portugal burgundy on the right.
“I had to buy both jerseys,” explained Kevin Serros, his 34-year-old dad. “And then have my mother sew them together.”
Walk around the stadium and visitors quickly pick up on a constant refrain: off-key, boisterous singing in Spanish. That’s “Vamos Colombia,” the equivalent of a fight song for the team that clearly has the overwhelming support of the ticket holders tonight.
Julian Ramirez, 35, was with his family outside the northeast gate when he started belting out the opening lines of “Vamos Colombia.” By the end of the first verse, it seemed like half of the passerby were joining in.
“We just want the team to feel the power of their supporters,” said Ramirez, a vacationer from Medellin.
This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 7:01 PM.