Key events
51 mins: Miller is a threat with his long throws from the right and he launches one deep into the box that is allowed to bounce before Toure tries a speculative overhead kick, without the same execution as Scott McTominay earlier this evening.
49 mins: The tempo is much slower this half and Australia have dropped from a mid to a low block. Asprilla, Colombia’s most active forward, injects some pace to jink around the outside on the right and whip a dangerous cross in that’s a fraction too high for Diaz on the edge of the six-yard box.
47 mins: Two solid minutes of Colombian possession to start the second half. They try to build slowly but profit from picking up the scraps from a long ball, after which they recycle well outside the box from right to left but when the cross is delivered Australia clear easily. Just like the first half though there is nobody to hold that clearance up and Colombia are soon back into their work.
The teams are back out for the second 45. I’ll do my best but please don’t expect me to update you on every one of the myriad substitutions inevitably heading our way.
It’s a big evening over in CONCACAF Qualification with all three groups going down to the wire. With about 25 minutes left to play it looks as though Panama, Curaçao, and Haiti are all going to the World Cup.
How exciting was that half? Colombia’s XG was 0.36, Australia’s 0.04.
What did we learn that half?
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Australia’s defensive structure, discipline, and commitment are all very impressive.
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Playing out from the back, Izzo, the three centre-halves, and the two sixes in midfield, all worked in sync to beat the initial press repeatedly.
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Mo Toure is isolated up front and not suited to this structure. To play one out like this needs a bigger more experienced body to bring teammates into the game.
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The 5-2-3 system gives plenty of defensive solidity but places too much responsibility on creativity to players not best suited to unlocking top tier defences (sorry Lewis Miller, you’re having a strong game, but you’re not Achraf Hakimi).
Half-time: Colombia 0-0 Australia
There isn’t time to take the corner that resulted from that save, so the two teams head to the interval deadlocked. And they do so with both benches exchanging a few verbals and gesticulations. It was a low tariff niggly half with plenty of tactical fouling in midfield. My guess is that Colombia began taking exception to Australia’s tactics and the Socceroos told them to suck it up.
45+2 mins: McGree goes for goal with his left boot, gets his free-kick over the wall and down sharply, forcing a diving save from Vargas away to his left. Excellent football all round.
45 mins: Miller pinches about 25m with a throw-in down the right. From the second ball Toure and McGree win possession then Irvine and O’Neill keep it alive allowing Miller to burst infield from the right and win a free-kick just on the corner of the box.
43 mins: Australia get a rare glimmer of possession and work their nice triangles again through defence and midfield, but as soon as they look up there’s only Toure to target and when the ball goes in his direction he is immediately crowded out.
41 mins: Australia continue to defend their box well, but they’re being forced to do so in such numbers and with such dedication there is no respite when they clear their lines. Toure is increasingly isolated and unable to hold the ball up and bring teammates into play.
40 mins: Australia have committed their share of fouls this half, and James is starting to get a bit frustrated by them.
39 mins: James floats the free-kick harmlessly into Izzo’s gloves from the set-piece.
37 mins: Asprilla dances into the penalty area on the right but his cross doesn’t find a teammate. James regroups and dances into the penalty area on the left but his cutback doesn’t end with a shot. Colombia come again and draw a foul 25m from goal just to the right of the D.
It’s not exactly invigorating, but it’s a lot better than it was against Venezuela last week. #COLvAUS
— Joey Lynch (@joeylynchy) November 19, 2025
35 mins: Diaz gets a shot away, this time with his right boot from the edge of the box after Colombia get the better of a series of second balls in their final third. The effort is wide of the lefthand upright.
33 mins: *Narrator*: they didn’t make it count. McGree massively overhits his cross to the far post and Colombia resume their possession play around halfway.
31 mins: Irvine, O’Neill, and McGree again show lovely one-touch skill to work the ball through the Colombian press, with the support of some composed football from the back three. The problem is after moving into open space the outlet is Lewis Miller, not Luis Diaz, so play judders to a halt. Nonetheless, Australia win a free-kick on the right just outside the penalty area. The Socceroos have to make these count.
29 mins: Nice spell of pressure from Colombia, started by the lively Asprilla and featuring Arias on a couple of occasions. A couple of his crosses deserved more commitment in the box before James showed quick feet to keep the move alive.
27 mins: Australia have lost all forward momentum and cohesion. Their attack now consists of however much trouble Toure can cause hunting down lost causes.
25 mins: As Colombia grow Australia are being forced to resort to hacked clearances and scrapping for second balls. Los Cafeteros continue to struggle to release Diaz though, who is flagged offside for the second time in quick succession, much to the Bayern flyer’s displeasure.
23 mins: Save Izzo! Colombia have upped the tempo in the past couple of minutes and Diaz forces Izzo into a diving save low to his right at the end of a lovely and straightforward series of veritcal passes on the half-turn. Toure is now isolated up top for the Socceroos and that composed 5-2-3 build-up structure now looks to be in quicksand.
22 mins: … quickly followed by the second with O’Neill harshly booked for catching the theatrical James in the throat with a stray arm while shielding the ball.
21 mins: … until I type that, of course. A lofted bass from back to front does pay off with Asprilla bringing it under control nicely and firing off a shot straight at Izzo. The first blow in anger.
20 mins: Colombia are unable to pierce Australia’s organised 5-4-1 defensive structure. Like a fictional bear hunt they have tried to go around it, over it, and through it, but on each occasion found the black wall impenetrable.
18 mins: A few stoppages have disrupted the flow of this match, which wasn’t high-octane to begin with. Colombia have not got out of first gear.
15 mins: The heat map for this match so far would be almost exclusively between the two penalty areas, aside from some touches from Izzo joining in Australia’s structured build-up. To labour an early point, that build-up has looked very promising with lots of composed one-touch passing and movement to draw the Colombian press and find the release ball down the right flank.
13 mins: Australia’s composure on the ball in defence and midfield has been an early feature. Some nice interplay almost releases Toure but he’s struggling to know when to time his runs after a couple of offside calls against him. O’Neill, Irvine, and McGree offer plenty of industry and determination in close quarters.
11 mins: Colombia have attempted to go over the top of Australia a few times already, but it seems a fruitless task against a tall back three not looking to play an offside trap.
9 mins: Colombia haven’t got into their flow yet. Australia are playing lots of short passes from the three central defenders into the feet of the two defensive midfielders, who in turn pass the ball back without looking to play forward on the half-turn. The out-ball is then a diagonal to the channel, mostly the right, for Metcalfe and Toure to chase.
7 mins: Toure has a difficult job tonight as the target man up against such a powerful defensive unit but he does well to hold up play and bring McGree into the action. It’s all very conservative though with Australia reluctant to commit bodies forward. You can see why as well because the Socceroos look vulnerable in turnover situations, as a misplaced pass on the left almost allowed Rios to pounce.
5 mins: Out of possession Australia are defending in a very structured 4-5-1 denying Colombia any room to play out from the back. James decides to drop deep on the right wing to inject some urgency, pings a lovely ball through the lines, to set his team moving. Some sharp one-touch interplay allows a crossing opportunity but the final ball is just behind Suarez who fails to connect with a hopeful flick.
3 mins: Australia are confident on the ball in their defensive third, looking to work their way out of trouble, but they succeed only inviting the Colombian press onto them and get lucky when Suarez can’t punish Degenek’s slip on the edge of his own box. Lots of possession early for the Socceroos though, who have settled well.
1 min: Australia think they’ve freed Toure in the right channel almost immediately after the kick-off, but he’s flagged offside. Vargas made a neat save at his near post regardless.
Kick-off!
We’re under way in New York…
Tori Penso is tonight’s referee. She is a NWSL and MLS regular.
Unsurprisingly the support in Queens is overwhelming in favour of Colombia. Roughly 150,000 residents of the New York borough hail from the South American nation.
The two sides make their way out onto the diamond, each group of players wearing 90s retro neon piped anthem jackets. They both line up in a very skew-whiff arrangement, in keeping with the odd dimensions of the playing arena.
It is winter chilly in New York, but dry and still under the Citi Field floodlights. Australia will be in their chic all black away strip tonight with Colombia in their traditional citrus yellow.
“Hi, I’m personal injury attorney Lionel Hutz. If you are calling because of a soft tissue injury experienced near second base, please press one. If you are calling because of a soft tissue injury experienced near third base, please press two.”
“What kind of stadium is Citi Field?” I hear you ask. Well, it’s a baseball stadium, home of the New York Mets, with a capacity of around 42,000. It’s no stranger to soccer with New York FC playing there regularly in recent years.
But I have to be honest, this looks abominable, especially the artificial turf between what is usually second and third bases that screams PFA lawsuit.
Australia XI
Popovic has made five changes from the starting XI against Venezuela. Paul Izzo returns in goal, with Cam Burgess, Kye Rowles, Jackson Irvine, and Riley McGree bolstering a more familiar-looking 5-2-3 line-up.
Socceroos: Paul Izzo (gk), Lewis Miller, Milos Degenek, Kai Trewin, Cam Burgess, Kye Rowles, Aiden O’Neill, Jackson Irvine (c), Connor Metcalfe, Riley McGree, Mohamed Toure.
Colombia XI
Lorenzo has gone with an experienced defence and forward line in his favoured 4-3-3 formation, but is experimenting with his midfield combination. It’s a big night for Sporting striker Luis Suárez to cement his status as the starting targetman to complement the veteran James and blistering Diaz up front.
Colombia: Camilo Vargas (gk), Santiago Arias, Davinson Sánchez, Jhon Lucumí, Johan Mojica, Juan Portilla, Richard Ríos, Yáser Asprilla, James Rodríguez (c), Luis Díaz, Luis Suárez.
Colombia and Australia secured safe passage to North America months ago but elsewhere in the world the race to reach the World Cup finals has reached fever pitch.
This includes Scotland qualifying in the most ludicrous fashion and Graham Arnold steering Iraq to an interconfederation playoff deep into Fergie time.
Here’s Joey Lynch’s latest letter from America as the Socceroos fine tune their 2026 World Cup preparations.
With just 270 minutes of football remaining until Popovic names his 26-player squad – starting on Tuesday against Colombia in New York before two further games, likely at home, next March – every minute on the pitch isn’t just precious in seeking solutions for the Socceroos’ longstanding foibles in possession, but for those players who want to be part of his plans next June. The coach may want to leave the door open as long as possible, but he’ll likely be zeroing in on his preferred squad in the months ahead, so the clock is ticking.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Colombia v Australia. This 2026 World Cup warm-up friendly kicks off at New York’s Citi Field Stadium at 8:30pm local time (12:30pm AEDT).
Seven months out from the start of the 2026 World Cup in North America this is a classic pre-tournament friendly: two qualified teams from different confederations at a neutral venue situated in one of the tournament’s host cities. Both camps get to experience a different footballing culture, familiarise themselves with conditions they can expect to face next summer, and play around with squad selection with minimal jeopardy.
For the Socceroos this is their fourth successive match in North America after a victory away to Canada in Montreal followed by defeats to the USA and Venezuela in Denver and Houston. That pair of losses, the first of Tony Popovic’s 14 month tenure, have given pause for thought over Australia’s World Cup preparations after seven straight victories in the calendar year.
But as much as results and momentum matter, these matches and training blocks are valuable for whittling down the longlist of potential squad members into the chosen 26 that will be handed the experience of a lifetime. This is especially the case for Popovic with so many young and lesser spotted individuals to cast his eye over.
Australia are currently 25th on FIFA’s rankings, their opponents tonight are placed 13th and haven’t ranked outside the top 20 since 2012. They qualified for the World Cup in third place in the CONMBEOL confederation (ahead of Brazil and Uruguay – and way in front of Venezuela, who beat the Socceroos a few days ago), beating both Argentina and Brazil along the way. The only player to score more goals than Colombia’s Luis Diaz during South American qualification was Lionel Messi.
Los Cafeteros are on an eight match unbeaten streak, one featuring eye-catching wins over Venezuela (6-3) and Mexico (4-0). Former Swindon Town defender (*looking at you David Squires*) Néstor Lorenzo is excelling in the dugout, making the most of a talented crop of players. The aforementioned Diaz is the standout, but 34 year old James Rodriguez continues to scheme, alongside a formidable army of stout defenders.
That will do for the time being. I’ll be back shortly with team news and plenty of updates from Joey Lynch over in New York. If you want to drop me an email at any point you can reach me at jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com.
