Ángelo Marsiglia took over the Colombia Women’s national team in 2023, and he’s helped turn them into one of the stronger nations in the women’s game. Although they’ve yet establish themselves among the elite in the global game, they remain a side that can challenge those elite sides. Let’s look at how they may challenge the USWNT in this final match of the 2026 SheBelieves Cup.

Colombia’s roster is pretty close to the roster they’ve been calling up for competitive matches like in the Copa America and Liga Naciones. The biggest absence, of course, is Mayra Ramírez, who is ruled out through injury. Other names like Ivonne Chacón and Lorena Bedoya Durango have been regular callups of late who aren’t in this selection.

Marsiglia has been looking to find a way to get goals in lieu of Ramírez’s prolonged absence through injury, so it’s not necessarily surprising that he would use this opportunity to see try new faces to build into what he’s comfortable with. This Colombia roster isn’t about see how a bunch of new faces can perform. It is about trying variations of established players.

4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3

Generally speaking, Colombia play in a 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3 formation, and I would expect that to continue against the United States. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they play roughly the same lineup as they did against Canada. If I had to hazard a guess at a change, perhaps we see Carolina Arias at right back. Manuela Vanegas and Daniela Arias are a good bet to start as the center back, but we could see Jorelyn Carabalí start in place of one of them as well.

5-3-2

If we wanted to anticipate a tactical swerve, Colombia could come out in a 5-3-2/3-5-2 formation with three center backs. They have played this way in the last year, but it has been against countries like Bolivia, where they’ve played Linda Caicedo and Wendy Bonilla in the wingback/wide mid roles, making it a more offensive formation. This is used when they want to increase the offensive pressure on an opponent they expect to dominate.

However, they have the players to approach that formation more defensively and look toward Loboa and Caicedo as long-ball outlets for counters. This will add more defensive stability to help handle the attacking strengths of the US, but it has a high risk of leaving the offensive three isolated, turning the match into a constant siege on Colombia’s goal.

In the end, I’d expect the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 lineup they typically bring out. It is their more familiar formation, and they will likely want the added bodies forward to exploit counter-attacking opportunities and runs into space.

In general, this side wants to get defenses turned and retreating toward their own goal. Their wide forwards are great when they can get isolated and run at defenders in 1v1 situations. This is why you know the name Linda Caicedo. She is deadly at this.

When Colombia have sustained possession in their attacking third, you’ll see Colombia’s outside backs push to maintain possession in the final third as they look to find openings against a more compact defense. However, against a team like the US, Colombia likely won’t have this kind of sustained possession, so you’re more likely to see them looking for long balls over the US’s midfield to generate attacks into space.

This is a side sorely missing both Mayra Ramírez and Catalina Usme. The former for her ability to bring others into play from a forward position and her goal scoring. The latter for her play-making in transition and on the counter. Ramírez is absent through injury. Usme hasn’t been called in of late, presumably due to her age, and Marsiglia wanting the side to move on to a post-Usme world.

In the SheBelieves Cup, Valerín Loboa has ostensibly replaced Ramírez in the striker role, and she definitely fits in one aspect. She can serve as a solid target forward. She got on the radar of the national team and, presumably, the Portland Thorns, because of her ability to bring her teammates into play during Deportivo Cali’s consecutive championship seasons. Loboa is not as adept at this as Ramírez, but she’s only 18. Loboa has the makings of a very good target forward. However, when it comes to scoring goals, Loboa is a big step down from Ramírez. Don’t get me wrong, Loboa had 6 goals in the 2025 Colombian season. That was tied for second most on her team in the top 10 in the league. But Ramírez is one of the top strikers in the world, Colombia are just clearly less dangerous in attack when she’s not on the field.

For Usme, that playmaking role has shifted to Leicy Santos, who is an elite player in her own right. Santos is probably most recognized for her set pieces, and her ability to score from a free kick is a weapon on it’s own. Additionally, Santos is very good in possession. She will move around the midfield looking to get on the ball and play-make. However, I think Santos is best at this when Colombia are building and sustaining possession. In quick-transition counters where Colombia is running at a retreating defense, Santos is good, but Usme was elite.

In a sense, Colombia have been searching for a way to reliably score goals when Ramírez is unavailable. Naturally, they see Linda Caicedo has the primary scorer, but they haven’t found a consistent way to get her producing goals or get someone else to help share the goal-scoring burden.

Against Canada, Linda Caicedo started wide left but would regularly pull centrally to be close to Loboa - the classic second striker to Loboa’s target striker. In the second half, Loboa (and Robledo when subbed on) would drift out wide and Caicedo would stay more central. Both approaches were designed to use Loboa/Robledo to draw attention and either flick-on for Caicedo or give Caicedo more space in central positions to run. Neither worked very well.

Against Argentina, one of the adjustments Colombia made was allowing Linda Caicedo to just roam everywhere to find the ball. At times, she would drop far enough back to collect the ball from the central defenders. This allowed Caicedo more time on the ball and created opportunities for her to just run Argentina’s defense. As Caicedo roamed, Leicy Santos often moved to fill the gap. This put Caicedo in the role that Usme used to fulfill (but with way more freedom to roam), and it definitely troubled Argentina because Caicedo is just difficult to contain when she gets running.

The downside for Colombia is that this often took Caicedo further away from goal and made her less of a direct goal threat as she was creating the opportunities for others. Granted, Caicedo did score the lone goal in the match, but the more common scenario was Caicedo facilitating a dangerous chance for someone else that was put over the bar or sent wide. (See, again, my note about Colombia sorely missing Mayra Ramírez.)

Regardless, this roaming playmaker role for Caicedo is not how they’ve traditionally used her, but I think it created a lot more danger than we’ve seen from Colombia since Ramírez’s injury. I would expect Marsiglia to give it another go against the USWNT. It may not result in a win, but Colombia are in a tightly contested Liga Naciones (South America’s qualification tournament for the 2027 Women’s World Cup). Getting reps against the US will only help refine it ahead of three big qualification matches in April.

When Argentina were defending deep, they had two very compact lines that the US were not easily able to play through. Colombia don’t tend to be that compact, for starters, and their more defensive-minded mids (some combo of Izquierdo, Restrepo, and Montoya) are not shut-down defensive midfielders, so the US should be able to play through the middle against Colombia.

Likewise, I’m predicting Carolina Arias gets the start at right back. Ana María Guzmán has gotten the start in the first two match. Regardless, both can be beaten by a pacey winger that good in 1v1 situations, and the US has a decent one of those in Alyssa Thompson. Let Thompson run at whoever’s the right back, and she’ll get goals for herself or get to the end line and find cutback opportunities for her fellow attackers.

Lastly, similar to Argentina’s keeper, Katherine Tapia is an inconsistent keeper. When she is on, she can be dominant. Consider her performance for Palmeiras in the shootout of the Supercopa Feminina. But she’s prone to a missed save or poor punch. Consider her performance for Palmeiras in the regulation time of the Supercopa Feminina. There’s a good chance the US can find goals just from shooting on target and following up for rebound opportunities.

For USWNT fans, this Colombian side should feel familiar. Along with the run in 2023 World Cup, Colombia has played the US a few times, including last year’s SheBelieves Cup. But I’ll highlight one player to watch because I think her quality is often underappreciated:

Manuela Vanegas - 25 years old - Defender - Brighton & Hove Albion

Vanegas is quietly one of the most well-rounded defenders in the world. She can play both as a central defender and as a left back. She’s pacey, aggressive, and good on the tackle. She’s note the tallest defender, but she is still very good in the air, especially when attacking corners. She’s always good for a few goals each season, and she scored a rather famous header against Germany in the 2023 World Cup.

Perhaps more than anything, Vanegas is excellent with the ball at her feet. She can both dribble and pass with a high level of quality for a defender. This allows her to help Colombia in both sustained possession and quick transition and counters because she can go on mazy runs or provide line-splitting passes from deep positions to get Colombia going on attack.

Put another way, Jeff Agoos, if you’re reading this, sign her up.

Colombia have the quality to beat anyone, but they’ve yet to show they can actually hang with the big teams in the world on a regular basis. They just haven’t made that final step. If the US are sharp, they should get another win against Colombia, and a multigoal win is not out of the question.

I am excited to see if Colombia utilize Linda Caicedo against the US as they did against Argentina. Giving her that freedom to roam and run with the ball was a joy to watch, and I’m curious to see her have that same role against an opponent like the US. Similarly, I’m excited to see the US have to stop her.

USA vs Colombia is scheduled for Saturday, March 7th at 3:30pm EST at Sports Illustrated Stadium, Harrison, NJ. In the US, the match can be watched on TBS and TruTV (in English) or Telemundo and Universo (in Spanish). It can also be streamed on HBO Max (in English) and Peacock (in Spanish).

In my next post, I will recap the U20 South American Championships and highlight some of the best action and performances from that tournament.