World Cup live updates: What to know about the Colombia vs. Portugal match in Miami

South Florida is hosting its fourth FIFA World Cup match with Colombia taking on Portugal, with kick off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium (which has been renamed Miami Stadium and stripped of all non-FIFA corporate branding for the duration of the five-week tournament).

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The Miami Herald will keep you updated on what is going on inside the stadium as soon as the gates open in this live updates blog.

‘No routes available’

4 p.m. Traffic is at a standstill beginning around Northwest 183rd Street near Miami Stadium in Miami Gardens ahead of the Portugal match against Colombia. The traffic congestion ahead of the match is much worse than the previous three Miami hosted.

Multiple fans told the Miami Herald that Google Maps and Waze continued routing them toward closed roads/turnpike exits or the apps would fail to even generate a route to Miami Stadium. One fan specifically produced a screenshot of Google Maps saying “No route available to this destination.” from when she left her house.

-Tyler Carmona

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Portuguese fans in a sea of yellow

3:30 p.m. In a snaking line of hundreds of yellow jerseys waiting for World Cup shuttle buses at the Golden Glades transit hub, Manny and Philip Acosta stood out in Portugal burgundy.

The father-and-son duo from Central Florida drove down to see Manny’s native Portugal take on Colombia, a team with legions of fans in Miami. Both wore Portugal flags and brought the patience required for World Cup logistics, where getting to the stadium is an extended — and often pricey — process.

Their tickets cost “north of $2,000,” said Philip, 41. The tickets included passes to board one of the charter buses Miami-Dade County is providing for FIFA. They’re in high demand: By 3 p.m., it looked like about 1,000 people were in line, the vast majority wearing Colombia’s signature yellow.

For Manny, 75, Portugal’s appearance in a World Cup match in Florida was a chance to celebrate the country he and his family left as teenagers. Now retired in the Flagler Beach area, he said he lives in a community where many Portuguese Americans settled. He had already run into friends from back home at Portugal-themed events across the Miami area, including Friday’s pregame celebration on South Beach.

“I am proud to be Portuguese,” he said. “But I am more proud to be an American.”

-Douglas Hanks

Colombian fans are heading to the game early

3 p.m. The first stadium shuttle wasn’t due for hours when Andrey Ladino, a Bogota native, took his place at the front of the line at the Golden Glades transit hub off I-95.

“We had heard a lot of comments about people getting there late,” he said of the Miami Stadium (what locals know as Hard Rock Stadium) about three miles away. “We didn’t want to take any chances.”

He was soon in loyal company, with hundreds of fans in Colombia yellow shirts behind him awaiting coach buses provided by Miami-Dade County as part of its transportation contribution to FIFA.

Unlike regular county buses, these require a match ticket to board. That didn’t come cheap to Ladino, 44, a flight dispatcher at Miami International Airport who now lives in Hollywood, and his family. Joined by his wife, Gyna Parrado; his father, Jose Ladino; and friend Julian Calero, Ladino said tickets for the night’s match against Portugal cost $1,600 apiece. He said he didn’t hesitate.

“We’ve been living here so long,” said Ladino, who left his home country in the 1990s. “The game is right in our backyard. And the other team is Portugal, with Ronaldo.”

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“It was a two-second decision,” he said.

-Douglas Hanks

The hottest group stage match is in Miami

From the moment the World Cup draw was announced in December, the most sought-after group stage ticket in the entire tournament was the Colombia vs. Portugal showdown Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.

The highly anticipated clash involves two teams with a legitimate chance to win the tournament and two massive fan bases with a strong presence in the United States. Colombia’s national team, nicknamed “Los Cafeteros” (the coffee makers), has an extremely passionate following and South Florida is home to nearly 240,000 Colombians.

Also boosting demand and driving ticket prices for Saturday’s game is the fact that 41-year-old superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 669 million Instagram followers, is captain of the Portuguese team and has said this World Cup will be his last, making each appearance a high-profile event.

Read the full story: Colombia faces Portugal (and Ronaldo) in high stakes, high-priced Miami match

Can you still get tickets?

Are you looking for a ticket to Colombia vs. Portugal Saturday night in Miami? It’s one of the most highly anticipated World Cup group stage matches. You’re in luck. Tickets are still available via online resale sites.

But — and it’s a big but — admission to the match at Hard Rock Stadium isn’t cheap.

Read the full story: Can you still get tickets to Colombia vs. Portugal World Cup match in Miami?

If you have a ticket

To start, we have a comprehensive guide with everything you need to know about today’s match for those that have a ticket with tips getting to the stadium, parking, what kind of bags you can bring inside, what kind of instruments, flags and signs you can bring into the stadium — anything you can think of.

Important info for ticketholders who also purchased a parking pass: In addition to the electronic pass you received, you must print and display the pass included in e-mail on your windshield. Only cars with this pass can access roads near the stadium. So, you will need an electronic ticket, an electronic parking pass and a printed out road access pass that goes in your windshield/dashboard. — Michelle Kaufman

Read the story: Going to a World Cup game at Miami Stadium? Here’s everything you need to know

Watch parties

For the rest of us mere mortals who plan to watch the match on a screen, there are so many options around town to watch with soccer fans, from the official Fan Fest in Bayfront Park, to local municipal watch parties to parties hosted at local bars and restaurants that feature food and drink specials.

Read the full stories:

Looking for a World Cup watch party in Miami? See list of free community events

How to watch the World Cup in Miami away from the stadium. See the choices

World Cup is here! What you need to know about Miami Fan Fest, transportation

What do you need to know about the teams before the game?

Take a look at team history, players to watch and where FIFA ranks both teams.

Read the full story: Here’s a guide to the seven World Cup teams (and their fans) headed to Miami

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This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 3:56 PM.