James Rodríguez, Colombia footballer: Profile, Career, News & Videos

James Rodríguez is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger and captains the Colombia national team. Regarded as one of the best Colombian players of all time, he has been praised for his technique, vision, and playmaking skills. He is often considered the successor to his compatriot Carlos Valderrama. During the last decade, various statistical performance analyses and models in European football positioned him as the best attacking midfielder in the world.

Starting his career at Envigado, and then moving to Argentina side Banfield, Rodríguez became well known in Europe during his time at Porto, winning several trophies and individual awards during his three years at the club.

In 2014, he moved from Monaco to Real Madrid for a transfer fee of £63 million, beating Radamel Falcao as the most expensive Colombian football player and one of the most expensive players at the time. In his debut season, he was named in the La Liga Team of the Season and won La Liga Best Midfielder. Additionally, a study evaluating player productivity at Real Madrid determined that Rodríguez achieved the highest technical efficiency in history among the club's central and attacking midfielders due to his high frequency of goals and assists per minute.

In 2017, he signed for German club Bayern Munich on a two-year loan deal. Rodríguez recorded 14 goals and 14 assists. On a per-minute basis, he ranked second on the team in offensive productivity during both campaigns, trailing only Robert Lewandowski. Furthermore, he served as a primary progressive catalyst for the squad, leading a team that included Joshua Kimmich and Thiago in progressive passes per 90 minutes in both seasons.

In the summer of 2020, he signed for Premier League club Everton on a free transfer, staying there for one season before joining Qatar's Al-Rayyan and Greece's Olympiacos in 2021 and 2022, respectively. In 2023, 13 years after leaving South America, he returned to the continent by joining Brazilian club São Paulo. A month after his departure from São Paulo in July 2024, Rodríguez returned briefly to Europe with Rayo Vallecano before joining Mexican club León in 2025.

Rodríguez started his international career with the Colombia under-20 team, with which he won the 2011 Toulon Tournament. He then captained the U-20 team during the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Due to his performance in the tournament, he was regularly called into the senior squad by the age of 20. He played in the 2014, 2018 and 2026 FIFA World Cup, winning the Golden Boot in 2014 and being included in the Cup's All Star Team. He also represented his nation at the Copa América in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2024, winning a third-place medal in 2016 and reaching the final in 2024, the latter in which he received the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player and broke Lionel Messi's record for the most assists in a single edition. With 131 caps, Rodríguez is Colombia's record appearance maker.

Rodríguez is the second-highest assist provider of all time in the history of World Cup CONMEBOL qualifiers, surpassing Lionel Messi in this overall tally and placing only behind Neymar. In international football overall, he managed to enter the top 10 players with the most assists in the history of national teams, surpassing Pelé.