Colombia Under-15 National Football Team Assembles, a Breeding Ground for Future Stars
At a time when all eyes in Colombia are on its senior national team participating in the FIFA 2026 World Cup, which this Friday will face Ghana in the round of 16, the national Under-15 team has begun its training camp ahead of its participation in the CONMEBOL Evolucion Tournament. In the Under-15 category, important figures in Colombian football have begun their careers.
This youth category is the official first step in Colombia’s national teams, although many young talents are discovered later in their development processes. The Colombia Men’s Under-15 National Team is the official squad prepared by the Colombian Football Federation (FCF) for the CONMEBOL Evolucion Tournament.
Under-15, a breeding ground for stars
The process of this category, led by coaches such as Jose Francisco Lopez, serves exclusively as a breeding ground, and the players who take part are still in a formative and developmental stage on their way to professional football and, in the future, the senior national team.
However, cases such as Davinson Sanchez stand out. The current central defender of the Colombia national team, participating in the tournament held in Mexico, the United States, and Canada, began in the youth national team system and is now a key reference for the senior squad.
Stars such as Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Rafael Santos Borre, Luis Fernando Muriel, and Alfredo Morelos also began their careers in the lower youth categories.
For this year, the FCF announced the call-up of 23 players to join the Colombia Men’s Under-15 National Team, which will carry out a new training microcycle in preparation for the CONMEBOL Evolucion League of the category, scheduled to take place next September.
The called-up players will gather at the FCF Training Center in Barranquilla from July 1 to 11, a period during which the coaching staff will evaluate and strengthen the team’s tactical, technical, and physical aspects. The coaching staff will be led by Jose Francisco Lopez.
List of players and clubs of origin
This call-up highlights the cases of players Emmanuel Polo and Yostin Angola, who have been trained since the age of nine at Incauca Futbol Club, an organization that since its creation in 2021 has supported nearly 1,000 young people through a free model combining athletic development with personal growth.
The athletes receive support from certified coaches, physical trainers, psychologists, and physiotherapists. In addition, the program covers uniforms, insurance policies, transportation, and nutritional support, facilitating access to high-performance sport.
Currently, the club brings together 200 male and female players distributed across eight age categories. From these development processes, talents have emerged who now belong to teams such as Atletico Nacional, Millonarios, Santa Fe, America de Cali, as well as international clubs such as Racing Club and Talleres de Cordoba in Argentina, and Melgar in Peru.
This is the list of the 23 players who make up the Colombia Men’s Under-15 National Team, and their clubs of origin:
- Nicolas Botero Ramirez – Deportivo Cali
- Snaider Andres Negrete Murillo – Ciclones Cali
- Emmanuel Polo Garcia – Incauca F.C.
- Wilson Aldemir Vergara Pena – Bogota F.C.
- Juan Camilo de la Rosa Ortega – Junior F.C.
- Edgar Maklenis Posu Gutierrez – Independiente Yumbo
- Diego Fernando Ruiz Angulo – Orsomarso S.C.
- Shwesley Escheneld Pena Micolta – America de Cali
- Matias Gonzalez Mina – Deportes Tolima
- Bayron Jose Meza Varela – Millonarios F.C.
- Juan Esteban Cucalon Cucalon – Deportivo Cali
- Juan Pablo Valencia Cadavid – Estudiantil
- Thomas Alejandro Molina Goyeneche – Patriotas
- David Cabrera Delgado – Escuela Sarmiento
- Miguel Angel Largacha Suarez – Atletico Nacional
- Cristian de Jesus Garcia Feria – Junior F.C.
- Juan Jose Manyona Amador – Envigado F.C.
- Geiler David Chaverra Valencia – DIM
- Yostin Manuel Angola Cantoni – Incauca F.C.
- Neymar Camargo Luna – Fortaleza
- Yaroll Snaider Martinez Martinez – Independiente Santa Fe
- Andres David Mena Serna – Atletico Nacional
- Martin Gonzalez Labrador – Internacional de Bogota
Coaching staff:
- Jose Francisco Lopez Fierro – head coach
- Alex de Jesus de Alba – assistant coach
- Jhon Alexander Meza Cardenas – fitness coach
- Diego Andres Barbudo – video analyst
- Antony Jose Morales Montenegro – doctor
- Jhan Ferney Gutierrez Gonzalez – goalkeeping coach
- Sebastian Munoz Castro – physiotherapist
- Yeferson Yoel Torres Navarro – physiotherapist
- Gonzalo Alonso Cuestas Pit – kit manager