The Bayern Munich star is seen by many as Colombia's main man, but he was unable to help his team against England on Tuesday after an injury which he sustained in the team's last group-stage clash against Senegal.
The attacking midfielder watched on from the stands for the game, and was seen celebrating ecstatically when his team-mate Yerry Mina headed the South Americans back in to the game with an equaliser deep in to regular time.
However, as the match went in to extra-time both teams seemed to be suffering from the immense energy they had put in to the game, and with few chances to get a decisive goal the match went to penalties.
James went down to the bench to be with his team-mates for the shootout, but looked on in despair as Mateus Uribe and Carlos Bacca failed to score their penalties and so England went through.
The former-Monaco player sat alone on the bench in heart-break after Eric Dier had slotted home the decisive penalty, with England vice-captain Jordan Henderson going over to console him after the initial celebrations among the England players.
While Colombia will now head home after the disappointing result, England face a quarter-final clash with Sweden on Saturday.