Colombia vs Australia Tips & Predictions - Socceroos to struggle against another South American nation

It was somewhat expected, but nevertheless, it was an extremely disappointing game from the Socceroos as they went down 1-0 to Venezuela in Houston. Venezuela failed to even qualify for the FIFA World Cup playoff tournament, finishing eighth in South American qualifying, while they are without a permanent manager. However, Australia were well off the pace and save from a solid opening 20 minutes, were clearly second-best. Tony Popovic continues to experiment with handing out debuts and playing his troops out of position - surely with only another handful or so of matches remaining before the World Cup he needs to settle on a preferred starting 11 and structure.

But for the moment, Australia must make do with this inexperienced squad Popovic has selected for this international window - and it's tough to see how this group of players are going to turn things around against a much stronger South American side here. Colombia comfortably qualified for next year's World Cup and come into this encounter unbeaten in eight consecutive games, winning four of their last five. Bayern Munich winger Luis Diaz will of course be a huge threat out wide, while captain James Rodriguez is expected to earn a 122nd cap. Unfortunately, I can't see the Socceroos creating much of an impact here - back Under 2.5 goals and Colombia to produce a shut-out victory.

These two nations have squared off four times previously and Australia remain winless. Colombia prevailed 1-0 and the two teams played out a 0-0 stalemate in a pair of friendlies in 1995, while Los Cafeteros emerged 3-2 winners in another friendly in 2001. The most-recent clash also saw a 0-0 draw in 2018.

Colombia are about to embark on their seventh World Cup campaign, with their best result coming in 2014 when they advanced to the quarter-finals. After missing out on the 2022 edition in Qatar, Colombia successfully returned to football's showpiece competition by finishing third in South American qualifying (above the likes of Brazil and Uruguay), registering a 7-7-4 record across their 18 games to secure automatic qualification.

It's been a bright recent period for Colombia - they head into this encounter unbeaten in their last eight games in all competitions, winning four of their last five and suffering just one defeat throughout the entirety of 2025.

Nestor Lorenzo's side finished off their qualifying campaign with 3-0 and 6-3 victories over Bolivia and Venezuela respectively before a thumping 4-0 victory over Mexico in a friendly last month.

Colombia followed that result with a 0-0 share of the spoils with Canada before edging out New Zealand 2-1 in last weekend's friendly. Los Cafeteros dominated the game with 64 per cent of possession and 22 shots to 10, with Johan Carbonero scoring the winner in the 88th minute.

Midfielder Gustavo Puerta enjoyed a dream start to his international career by scoring on debut in the 3rd minute of Colombia's win over New Zealand and is expected to retain a spot in the starting side.

Big names Luis Diaz and James Rodriguez are also expected to receive more game time, but depending on how the game plays out, it's unlikely they play full minutes - especially Diaz.

You can check out the full Colombia squad for this game below.

As mentioned, it was a lacklustre display from the Socceroos in their 1-0 defeat to Venezuela - nothing to get overly concerned about, but certainly a warning sign that improvement and team stability is needed heading into next year's World Cup.

One of the positives about qualifying automatically through Asia is the ample preparation time ahead of the World Cup and Popovic is certainly making the most of said time to experiment - but after this window, surely he begins to settle on his preferred starting 11.

Australia only had 34 per cent of the ball against Venezuela and after Mo Toure narrowly missed two great chances inside the opening 10 minutes, the Socceroos barely threatened. In fact, if not for a great debut performance from goalkeeper Patrick Beach, the score could have been much worse.

The Socceroos have now lost their last two games after going unbeaten in their previous 12, also falling to a 2-1 defeat to USA.

Popovic can be expected to rotate again after Al Hassan Toure earned his international debut off the bench, while fullback Callum Elder also saw minutes in second cap for the Socceroos.

Hearts midfielder Cam Devlin surely gets some game time here, while 18-year-old Man United fullback James Overy could become the youngest ever Socceroo if he gets on the pitch.

Defender Kai Trewin, midfielder Paul Okon-Engstler and goalkeeper Patrick Beach also all earned debut call-ups for Australia against Venezuela. Jackson Irvine and Riley McGree also returned after lengthy spells sidelined with injuries.