England vs Colombia World Cup profile: Colombia’s squad, record, manager, path to final, team news, latest odds and star man

COLOMBIA had their best ever tournament in Brazil in 2014 by reaching the last eight - and are looking to go even further this time.

Full of attacking talent, with no shortage of pace and goals, the Colombians have threatened to challenge the recognised big boys at a World Cup for years.

Here's all you need to know...

In a nutshell: For a country of its size and with such a passion for the game, Colombia have arguably failed to reach their potential at the World Cup finals. They won their first four games in 2014 to reach the quarters for the first time, but the dream ended there with a 2-1 defeat to hosts Brazil.

Flag: One of the stranger flags on show, Colombia’s tricolor has three horizontal stripes with the biggest band being the yellow one (to represent the gold found in the country), followed by blue (for the sea around Colombia) and then red (for the blood spilt by freedom fighters).

Population: 48.65 million

Nickname: Los Cafeteros (The Coffee Growers). It’s not the only thing the country is famous for producing. It also ships out around £8billion worth of crude petroleum every year.

Manager: Jose Pekerman – the man who also coached fierce rivals Argentina in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany. The Argentine has been in charge since 2012.

Captain: Monaco (and Manchester United and Chelsea flop) Radamel Falcao.

Star Man: Bayern Munich midfielder (on loan from Real Madrid) and one of the superstars of the last World Cup, James Rodriguez.

Rising Star: If Tottenham’s young central defender Davinson Sanchez has a strong tournament he may well get a move to a big club.

Player of the tournament so far: Yerry Mina. The Barcelona defender has been solid at the back and his headed goals against Poland and Senegal proved vital.

Most caps: The legend that is curly-topped Carlos Valderrama (111).

All-time top scorer: It’s Radamel Falcao again (30).

Nice kit? Still the traditional yellow number but with red and blue zig-zags emerging from the armpits, presumably to mask the sweat stains.

Most offensive haircut? Here’s hoping that Brighton’s winger Jose Izquierdo gets the nod – and a haircut.

Any names we can laugh at like kids? How about we nickname Carlos Bacca "Chewie" and fellow striker Felipe Pardo "Alan"?

Rivals? Yes, they like a kickabout with neighbours Ecuador and Venezuela but they’re not a patch on the games they have against Argentina.

National anthem: The sprightly Oh Gloria Inmarcesible! (O Unfading Glory) is still played twice a day, at 6am and 6pm, on state radio and television in Colombia.

Sample lyric: ‘Independence!’ cries the American world
The land of Colombus is bathed in heroes' blood.
National dish: They like a traditional soup such as ajiaco (chicken and potato) or sancocho (mixed meat and vegetables). We’ll stick to tomato.

National drink: Aguardiente. It’s an anise-flavoured liqueur and is usually taken neat. It’s potent too but then it’s name does translate as ‘firewater’.

World Cup Finals Record: P18 W7 D2 L9 F26 A27

World Cup Win Ratio: 38.8%

Best World Cup Performance: They reached the quarter-finals in 2014 for the first time in their history.

Fifa World Ranking: 13

Path to final: Colombia won their group, as they did on their run to the quarter-finals four years ago, by beating Poland and Senegal.

Now they face England in the last 16 ahead of a possible quarter-final showdown with the winner of Switzerland and Sweden.

If they get that far then Spain are a likely semi-final opponent.