At the last edition of the World Cup, James Rodriguez announced himself on the biggest stage of all, winning the Golden Boot with six goals to his name including a mesmerising volley which won the award for goal of the tournament.
However, Monaco forward Falcao is keen not to live in his compatriot's shadow, and wants to show his country and the world what he can still do in a Colombian shirt.
At 32, he has surprisingly never played at a World Cup after Colombia failed to qualify for the 2006 and 2010 editions, with the striker being injured at the previous tournament.
Falcao's influence is immense in his home country, as shown by the wish of the Colombian president at the time for the striker to be declared fit. José Carlos Noronha told the Guardian of a phone call he received before the surgeon set to work on the striker's knee ligament injury:
“He told me that if I can get Falcao fit for the World Cup, then I could win him the elections,”
Falcao unfortunately didn't recover in time to play in Brazil, and between 2014-16 had an incredibly frustrating time in England playing at Man Utd and Chelsea. Some commentators even thought that the striker's career was over, such was his decline in performance over this period.
The last two years saw him return to Monaco, and score over 50 goals among which helped the club to clinch the Ligue 1 crown in 2016-17.
Now back to his best, Colombia's all-time record goalscorer will turn out against Japan on Tuesday. While there is some debate as to whether himself and the Bayern Munich star will work well together in the same team, but it is undoubted that the whole Colombian nation will be backing 'El Tigre' to roar in his first World Cup match.