Colombia showed that they are truly the "dark horse" at this year's Copa America with a perfect opening match with a victory over Paraguay to maintain a spectacular unbeaten record. "La Tricolor" has now gone 24 consecutive matches without a loss, including 19 wins and 5 draws since March 2022. They are also ranked 3rd in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America with 3 wins and 3 draws.

Midfielder James Rodriguez and striker Luis Diaz are the spearheads of the Colombian team under coach Nestor Lorenzo (Argentine) who is reviving spectacularly.

In the opening match of Copa America against familiar opponents Paraguay with star Miguel Almiron playing for Newcastle in the squad, the Colombian team quickly took the initiative with beautiful attacking play.

However, it took more than half an hour of play for the Colombian team to find a way into Paraguay's goal, thanks to James Rodriguez's beautiful dribble and pass in the middle for Daniel Munoz to open the score at 1-0 in the 32nd minute. Then, in the 42nd minute, a free kick was also taken by James Rodriguez himself for Jefferson Lerma to head in from close range to increase the score to 2-0.

These two goals were a turning point for the Colombian team to completely control the match. In the second half, they slowed down the tempo and kept the game tight. But they created conditions for the Paraguay team to rise up and find a goal to reduce the score to 1-2 in the 69th minute, scored by Julio Enciso.

Paraguay increased the pressure in the final minutes of the match to find an equalizer. Meanwhile, Colombia took advantage of a gap in the opponent's defense to counterattack. In the 85th minute, Colombia thought they had been awarded a penalty when defender Gustavo Velazquez (Paraguay) fouled center back Yerri Mina in the penalty area. However, VAR overturned the referee's decision, helping Paraguay avoid a third goal in the match.

However, the 2-1 victory was enough for the Colombian team to start this year's Copa America with a victory in the hope of repeating their achievement of reaching the semi-finals and finishing third as in 2021. In the next match, the Colombian team will meet Costa Rica at 5:00 a.m. on June 29.