James Rodriguez, Colombia’s captain and highest capped player, has confirmed his retirement from international football.
The 35-year-old made 131 appearances for the South American nation, whom he represented at four World Cups including this summer’s finals in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
His international retirement comes days after he completed his move to Colombian side Atletico Nacional, the 14th club of his career and sixth since 2023.
“The moment has arrived,” Rodriguez posted on his Instagram account, confirming his retirement from the national side.
“Thank you for every match, every moment of joy, every tear, and every shared dream. Defending the colors of the Colombian national team was one of the greatest honors of my life.
“Thank you, Colombia. Forever.”
In the video, Rodriguez said he “lived his dream” by playing for Colombia but it also carried “great responsibility”, as he was playing for himself, his family, his friends and his nation.
He did not win any silverware with Colombia, but did help them reach the Copa America final in 2024 having record a third-place finish eight years earlier. Perhaps most memorably was his starring role in the nation’s run to the World Cup quarter-final stage in 2014, when they lost to host nation Brazil. Rodriguez won the Golden Boot for that tournament.
Despite a nomadic few years in his club career, Rodriguez has remained a regular member of the Colombian national team and started as captain in all five of his nation’s World Cup matches this summer.
Since the start of 2023, Rodriguez has played club football with Olympiacos, Sao Paolo, Rayo Vallecano, Club Leon and Minnesota. He has struggled to make a significant impact during those spells, with his success mostly coming in Mexico with Leon, where he was captain and recorded five goals and nine assists in 34 appearances.
Rodriguez made 125 appearances for Real Madrid and won the Champions League twice with the Spanish club after he joined from Monaco in 2014 following a World Cup where he finished as the tournament’s top goalscorer.
Rodriguez is Colombia’s most influential ever player
Analysis by Felipe Cardenas
Rodriguez scored Colombia’s most spectacular goal at a World Cup in 2014 against Uruguay. He won the Puskas Award with that volley and earned the Golden Boot at that World Cup in Brazil. That led to a high-profile move to Real Madrid where he was given the No 10 shirt, and albeit briefly, was among the best-performing playmakers in La Liga at the age of 23.
Many great Colombian players starred for their clubs and country before Rodriguez . Carlos Valderrama, Faustino Asprilla, Freddy Rincon, and Rene Higuita, to name a few. But in the modern era, Rodriguez stands alone as the most influential player Colombia has ever produced.
Only Radamel Falcao, who was considered as one of the sport’s best center forwards before a knee injury in January of 2014, can be debated as Rodriguez’s equal. Rodriguez’s club career can be picked apart and scrutinized. But his devotion to the national team and the highlights he produced in Colombia’s colors will across 15 years be difficult to transcend.