Néstor Lorenzo

Néstor Lorenzo is the head coach of Colombia at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, leading Los Cafeteros to their first World Cup since 2018 after a strong CONMEBOL qualifying campaign. Born in Villa Celina, Buenos Aires Province, on 26 February 1966, he was a journeyman defender at Argentinos Juniors, Bari and Lecce — but it is as a coach, shaped over two decades alongside José Pekerman, that he has built his reputation.

Lorenzo's footballing education is essentially Pekermanism: a Pekerman assistant with the Argentina U-20s in the early 2000s, the senior Argentina side at the 2006 World Cup (quarter-finalists) and then Colombia from 2012 to 2018 — through the 2014 World Cup quarter-final run with James Rodríguez and a return to the R16 in 2018. He took his first head-coaching job at Peruvian club Melgar, winning the 2022 Apertura.

Appointed by the FCF in June 2022, Lorenzo transformed Colombia almost immediately. A 28-match unbeaten streak culminated in the Copa América 2024 final, narrowly lost 1-0 to Argentina, before he steered the side to comfortable qualification for 2026 around the playmaking of James Rodríguez and the goals of Luis Díaz.

Colombia are in Group K with Portugal, Uzbekistan and DR Congo, opening on 13 June. Lorenzo's brief: turn the Copa América runners-up momentum into Colombia's first ever World Cup semi-final, surpassing the 2014 quarter-final benchmark and confirming Los Cafeteros as a genuine top-tier nation again.