James Rodríguez
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James with Bayern Munich in 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | James David Rodríguez Rubio[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 12 July 1991[2] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Cúcuta, Colombia | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[3] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder, winger | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | León | |||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2005 | Academia Tolimense de Fútbol | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Envigado | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2008 | Envigado | 30 | (9) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Banfield | 42 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | Porto | 63 | (25) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Monaco | 34 | (9) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2020 | Real Madrid | 85 | (29) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | → Bayern Munich (loan) | 43 | (14) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Everton | 23 | (6) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Al-Rayyan | 13 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Olympiacos | 20 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | São Paulo | 18 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Rayo Vallecano | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025– | León | 22 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Colombia U17 | 11 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Colombia U20 | 5 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011– | Colombia | 118 | (30) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 03:04, 31 August 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 9 September 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||
James David Rodríguez Rubio (born 12 July 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Liga MX club León 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.[4][5]
Starting his career at Envigado, and then moving to Argentina side Banfield, James 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, James moved from AS 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.[6] In his debut season, he was named in the La Liga Team of the Season and won La Liga Best Midfielder. In 2017, he signed for German club Bayern Munich on a two-year loan deal. In the summer of 2020, he signed for Premier League club Everton on a free transfer,[7] 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, James returned briefly to Europe with Rayo Vallecano before joining Mexican club León in 2025.
James 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 and 2018 FIFA World Cup, winning the Golden Boot in 2014 and being included in the Cup's All Star Team.[8][9] 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.
- ^ "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Colombia" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
- ^ "James Rodríguez: Overview". Premier League. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
- ^ "James Rodríguez". FC Bayern Munich. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
- ^ "Rodriguez: I've got a lot to learn". FIFA. 20 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ Richards, Alex (28 June 2014). "World Cup 2014: Chief conductor James Rodriguez looking to lead as Colombia face Uruguay". The Mirror. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ "James Rodriguez: Real Madrid sign Monaco forward". BBC Sport. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Messi, Neuer heralded as Brazil 2014's best". FIFA. 13 July 2014. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia". FIFA. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014.