With one month to go until the end of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, this is the outlook for Néstor Lorenzo and the Colombian national team.

With one month left until the end of the qualifying rounds, coach Néstor Lorenzo will have to prepare for the final two matches at the most difficult time of the year for coaches based in Europe: players are just coming out of preseason, the leagues are just starting, and their muscles are still stiff from the holidays.

Furthermore, the Argentine coach will have to deal with the fact that several of his key players have just changed clubs, and some have moved continents, in a market that moved millions of dollars, but which will also force him to closely monitor their adaptation.

From back to front: The national team's goalkeeping situation is causing some concern from the start. Camilo Vargas has only played three of Atlas's six matches, including Liga MX and Leagues Cup. However, that hasn't been a problem for Lorenzo, who even called him up while he was inactive and after undergoing a knee cleaning.

Kevin Mier's case is a study in point. After being chosen as the best goalkeeper in Liga MX, he's had an inconsistent start, with great saves but also major errors and a couple of painful defeats. And, to top it all off, Álvaro Montero changed clubs and fulfilled his dream of going abroad again, but he hasn't played a single minute with Vélez Sársfield. David Ospina is active and healthy.

Regarding Mier, a starter in the national team's last two matches, former Cruz Azul goalkeeper Óscar "Conejo" Pérez told ESPN: "Maybe the kid needs to calm down and get back on track. It happened to me once, I made a mistake and got taken off. They gave me a bit of a break on the bench, and then I came back and came back a little more relaxed because of all the pressure that comes with it."

In defense, there's another player who's lost ground under Lorenzo: Carlos Cuesta. He was already left out of the last squad, for the matches against Peru and Argentina, and now his club, Galatasaray, hasn't even registered him for the Turkish Super League and is looking for a buyer. He struggled to adapt and only played nine matches. Vasco da Gama could be his next destination.

Two of Lorenzo's midfield mainstays took advantage of the Club World Cup showcase to finally make the jump to Europe: the first, Jhon Arias, was outstanding with Fluminense, so much so that he was chosen for the All-Star Team of the tournament and, thanks to that, he has already moved to Wolverhampton, where he scored a goal in one of the friendlies. A more than deserved transfer, as much as that of Ríchard Ríos, who shone with Palmeiras and has now joined Benfica, where he has already won the Portuguese Super Cup and is three games away from playing in the league phase of the Champions League.

Luis Díaz also seems to have fallen into fertile ground to continue developing his great talent. The Guajiro left Liverpool after three and a half years to sign for another of Europe's giants, Bayern Munich, where the fight goes far beyond the local league. The goal will always be the Champions League.

"Luis Díaz shouldn't be a Kompany player, he has to be a Bayern player, and that's the most important thing: that he be a team player," said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany, a Belgian.

"It's paradoxical; he's the one in the best physical and mental shape. He's had a good preparation with Liverpool, where he trained for three weeks. Logically, he's the one who's received the least information of all the players. We simply want him to have fun and show what he can contribute during the season," Kompany added.

The only drawback, for the national team, is that the Bundesliga will be the last of the five major domestic club tournaments in Europe to enter competition. Lucho will be in the German Super Cup next Saturday against Stuttgart, and just the following weekend, against RB Leipzig on August 22, he will play in a domestic tournament. He will arrive at the knockout stage with one week less experience than the rest of the European competitions.

There are two cases that will need to be closely monitored due to what happened in the last squad. One is that of Jhon Jáder Durán, who abruptly left the training camp after the first match, against Peru, amid rumors of a heated confrontation with Lorenzo. The former Al Nassr striker also changed clubs, and it remains to be seen what his relationship with his new coach at Fenerbahçe, the controversial José Mourinho, will be.

“Jhon isn't in his best physical condition either, but his presence always creates a very dynamic and beneficial game,” Mourinho said, explaining his substitution against Feyenoord.

The other is Juan Fernando Quintero, who was left out of the squad due to a suspected injury, but soon reappeared playing for América, the club where he had a difficult departure, before returning to River Plate. Juanfer was never a regular starter under Lorenzo, and it remains to be seen how he returns. If he even gets called up.

And James Rodríguez? The number 10 arrives with continuity at León, but with a disastrous start to the season for his club, which hasn't performed well in either the Liga MX or the Leagues Cup. For almost the entire qualifying campaign, James has been the linchpin of the national team, and it remains to be seen whether Lorenzo, with two games remaining and needing a win, will repeat the formula or replace it with younger players. In a month, football will decide.