Colombia fans in Vancouver fell silent as Switzerland won 4-3 on penalties in a World Cup round of 16 match at B.C. Place on July 7, ending the Colombian team's tournament run and closing out Vancouver's turn as a host city.
In bars along Granville Street, the atmosphere shifted from loud cheers to stunned silence after the decisive penalty kick. Some fans cried, but most stood motionless in their yellow jerseys, packed shoulder to shoulder, as the reality of defeat set in.
“We felt like probably the keeper was gonna stop the last one,” said Juan Pablo Diaz Lopez, who watched the match with friends at Dublin Calling on the Granville strip. “But they didn’t.”
A sea of yellow before the shootout
Hours before the penalty shootout, the streets of Vancouver were awash in Colombia's colors. Thousands of fans in yellow, blue, and red marched from Jonathan Rogers Park in Mount Pleasant to B.C. Place, accompanied by drums and vuvuzelas. The march, called “Vancouver is dressed in yellow,” welcomed fans with or without tickets.
Swiss supporters also held their own march, with a large crowd in red waving a “Schweiz” banner through a haze of red flares as they moved downtown toward the stadium.
Near the stadium, Colombian fans wore flags draped over their shoulders, painted cheeks, and the woven sombrero vueltiao, a national symbol. A “Vamos Colombia” sign bobbed above the crowd.
Fans from near and far
Among the Colombian supporters were Margarita Elena de Leon Babilonia and Javier Martinez, originally from Colombia but now living in Vancouver. They wore sequined hats of the marimonda, a character from the Barranquilla Carnaval used to tease opponents.
Juan Hernandez, attending his fourth World Cup, flew in from Dubai, where he teaches, to meet family from Ontario. None had visited Vancouver before. “I showed my wife a few videos and she’s like, ‘Why aren’t we living there?’” he said.
Hernandez, originally from London, Ontario, noted the large Colombian community there, jokingly nicknamed “Londombia.” A veteran of tournament heartbreak, he kept expectations in check: “Sometimes when you’re in this kind of tournament, a win just means you’re in there for another 90 minutes of suffering. It could be a lot of joy, but you kind of just have to expect the worst to have a little bit of fun.”
Lina Tobar, a resident of Bogota, flew in from Kansas City, where Colombia faced Ghana, and planned to follow the team to its next match. “There are so many Colombian people, and that is so nice for us,” she said. “The ambience is so good, the city is beautiful, it’s a sunny day.”
Switzerland's victory knocked Colombia out of the World Cup in the last match at B.C. Place, ending Vancouver's role as a tournament host.
