The Colombian national team is playing for the 2026 World Cup in Barranquilla against Bolivia: time, TV channel, and possible starting lineups.

The Colombian national team will seek to qualify for the 2026 World Cup this Thursday at the Metropolitano Stadium in Barranquilla , where it will host Bolivia , which aims to stay alive and fight for at least a spot in the South American qualifiers.

The hosts head into the penultimate round of matches in sixth place with 22 points. A win over Bolivia will grant them direct qualification for the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, as Venezuela, their closest rival, has 18 points.

The Bolivians, meanwhile, are eighth with 17 points, one behind the Vinotinto , and know they need a good result from their visit to Barranquilla to keep their hopes of securing a playoff spot alive, so they will treat Thursday's match like a final.

The national team will have to deal with the absence of right-back Daniel Muñoz, from Crystal Palace in England, who could be replaced by the experienced Santiago Arias, from Bahía Blanca in Brazil, or by Andrés Román, from Atlético Nacional, and River Plate midfielder Kevin Castaño, who could possibly be replaced by Jhon Arias, from Wolverhampton in England, to give the team more attacking volume.

As for the rest, Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo will count on his usual starters, such as center backs Davinson Sanchez (Galatasaray) and John Lucumi (Bologna); midfielders Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace), Richard Rios (Benfica) and James Rodriguez (Leon); and forwards Luis Diaz (Bayern Munich) and John Cordoba (Krasnodar), who is expected to return to the starting lineup after missing the match against Argentina last June through suspension.

"Regardless of who's on the pitch, we all have to play well. We have to win if we want to secure our place in the World Cup, and this is a great opportunity," said River Plate's creative Juan Fernando Quintero , who added: "Respecting Bolivia as an opponent, the result will depend a lot on what we want to do."

Bolivia arrived in Barranquilla on Tuesday night with its sights set on securing a favorable result that would allow it to continue dreaming of playing in a World Cup again after 32 years.

La Verde's national team coach, Óscar Villegas, has called up 28 players, including 14 foreigners, to face Colombia in Barranquilla and to host Brazil next week in El Alto .

"When I was introduced (as coach), I said that if there comes a time to talk about the World Cup later, when it's really close, we'll talk about it. And today we do want it, we want it, we desperately want this World Cup, but anything can happen," Villegas said at a press conference in La Paz this week.

The strategist's main doubt for Thursday's match is in goal, where the strong performances of goalkeepers Carlos Lampe and Guillermo Viscarra for their respective teams, Bolívar and Alianza Lima, in the Copa Sudamericana have sparked debate about which of the two will be the starter.

For this match, the Bolivian coach will have to deal with the absence of midfielder Lucas Chávez , who was sent off in his team's 2-0 win over Chile.

The match at the Roberto Meléndez Metropolitan Stadium in Barranquilla will kick off at 6:30 p.m. The match will be broadcast on RCN and Caracol TV. You can also check out the live stream of the match, the score, comments from the players, and all the qualifying information on EL TIEMPO.

Colombia: Kevin Mier; Santiago Arias, Dávinson Sánchez, Jhon Lucumí, Johan Mojica; Jefferson Lerma, Richard Ríos; Jhon Arias, James Rodríguez, Luis Díaz; Jhon Córdoba. Coach: Néstor Lorenzo (ARG).

Bolivia: Carlos Lampe; Diego Medina, Efraín Morales, Diego Arroyo, Luis Haquín, Roberto Fernández; Gabriel Villamil, Robson Matheus, Ervin Vaca; Miguel Terceros and Carmelo Algaranaz. Coach: Óscar Villegas.