As part of our Language of Soccer World Cup series, The Athletic is speaking to supporters of all 48 nations competing at the 2026 edition to capture their unique football culture, distilled into a single phrase. You can read the articles in one place here.Alegría — HappinessIf there is a player who best represents Colombia’s football culture, it is legendary midfield playmaker Carlos Valderrama. The mercurial No 10 was the leader of their heralded teams of the 1990s. His blond, cloud-like hair was free-flowing. His flair on the ball and elite field vision made Valderrama a global football star.More than anything, though, Valderrama’s play style conjured wide smiles and rabid emotion from Colombia’s supporters. El Pibe (the Kid), as he is best known, retired from international football in 1998. He represented Colombia at three World Cup tournaments and wore his country’s colors in more than 100 matches.Valderrama remains the heart and soul of Colombian football culture. In a 2021 interview with The Athletic, he described his life after football in one word: Alegría. It translates as happiness or joy.“That’s my lifestyle. Happiness,” Valderrama said.Carlos Valderrama was one of world football’s most recognizable faces during the 1990s (Simon Bruty/Allsport)Valderrama and his teammates had many highs, including a 5-0 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires in 1993. But there were heartbreaking lows, as well, like their shock group-stage elimination from the following year’s World Cup and its tragic aftermath.Daniel Sandoval, 36, founder of Colombian supporters’ group Parceros United, says that Valderrama epitomizes how Colombians feel about their national team.“Watching him was like a party for the whole world,” says Sandoval. “If you saw El Pibe play, you were celebrating. That 5-0 win — how did we take down Argentina? With swagger. We danced around them. At the end of the day, it’s our essence, our joy.”Parceros United started in the U.S. city of Atlanta in 2018. It has grown to become a multinational supporters’ group that brings Colombians together from all over the world. In Colombia, a parcero is a friend. The group’s tagline is “Everyone is a Parcero”, and it has gradually grown its footprint on social media to now have nearly 100,000 followers across its channels.It regularly hosts watch parties throughout the United States, particularly in cities where Colombia play friendlies or official matches. But a Parceros United watch party or pre-match tailgate is uniquely Colombian. A DJ blasts salsa music and reggaeton. The popular Colombian liquor aguardiente is passed around liberally. There is a youthful energy about the group.Members of the Parceros United fan group (Edgar Torres)Sandoval doesn’t miss a Colombia game when they play in the U.S. and also routinely travels to South America to attend their World Cup qualifiers. An engineer by day, Sandoval, who is rarely without a smile on his face, didn’t hesitate when asked what the team means to him. “For me, it is joy, unity, and family,” he says.“For us,” adds Melissa Bedoya, 26, a psychologist and football content creator based in Medellín, the South American country’s second largest city. “Maybe individually a Colombian can go unnoticed, but together, everything is amplified. Wherever we show up, we make noise.”