Argentina’s women’s national football team aims to secure a spot in the 2028 Olympics in its showdown against Colombia in the Copa America Femenina semifinals on Monday.

Head coach Germán Portanova’s team is completing a fantastic tournament. The Albiceleste qualified for the semis as Group A leaders after beating Uruguay, Peru, Chile and hosts Ecuador, conceding just one goal.

“It’s been great, because we’ve been working for this,” Florencia Bonsegundo, one of the team’s stars, told press after beating Ecuador on Thursday. “Maybe we weren’t expecting it to go this well, but we’ve been growing as a team.”

Bonsegundo, Argentina leading goalscorer in the competition, added that she’s happy to see a team where every player can hit the ground running, a factor she saw as key to them finishing top of the group.

“It’s been a wonderful Copa América,” the 32-year-old said. “I know that it could be my last, so I’ve been enjoying every moment, every training session, everything. It’s about passion for us, we love this shirt and give our all for it, expecting nothing in return. We keep working for the growth of women’s football.”

The dream of the Olympics

The 2025 Copa América Femenina will grant the two finalists a spot in the women’s football competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The two semifinals have therefore become a sort of final for the four teams competing in them. Argentina will face Colombia, with Brazil and Uruguay matching up in the other semi. By making the semis, all teams are already granted a spot in the Lima 2027 PanAmerican Games.

Colombia finished second in Group B after tying its first and last games of the group stage, against Venezuela and Brazil respectively. Finalists in 2022, the Cafeteras are looking to go one better and claim their first title. Their surefire leader is striker Linda Caicedo. She was chosen player of the tournament in the 2022 Copa América Femenina, aged just 17, and has since gone on to play club football at Spanish giant Real Madrid.

In 2006, Argentina became the only country other than Brazil to win the Copa América Femenina. That earned the Albiceleste its Olympics debut at Beijing 2008, where it was eliminated in the first stage without scoring any points. It now aims for its second-ever participation.

The match, which will be played at the Rodrigo Paz Delgado stadium in Quito, will kick off at 9 p.m. and be broadcast in Argentina by TV provider DSports.