The road to the 2026 World Cup made its second and final San Diego stop on Sunday, as Colombia defeated Jordan 2-0 at Snapdragon Stadium to end the weekend friendly matches that featured international teams preparing for World Cup play.

Colombia dominated the first half, maintaining ball possession for 67% of the initial 45 minutes. Although each club took four first-half shots, three of Colombia’s were on goal, compared to none for Jordan.

Colombia midfielder Jhon Aris scored both goals for his team, one in each half.

His first goal came during the 41st minute when he drilled a right-footed kick from the center of the goal to the back-right portion of the net, giving his club a 1-0 lead that they took into the half.

At halftime, Jordan substituted out five players and Colombia made four replacements, as part of the teams’ strategy to make sure as many players as possible had enough minutes so their teams’ coaching staffs could evaluate them. Switzerland used a similar tactic in its 1-1 draw against Australia the day before, at various points substituting out 10 of the 11 players that started the exhibition.

It was a testament to Colombia’s depth that its quality of play did not take much of a dip once the backup players took the field, and also a sign of Jordan’s lack of quality backup options as compared to their opponents on the world stage.

It was during the 55th minute that Arias struck again, receiving a pass from right-back Santiago Arias (no relation), and then nailing a header that sailed past backup Jordan goalkeeper Nour Bani Ateyah and into the back of the net.

During the 90th minute, Jordan midfielder Amer Jamous received a red card and was ejected from the match due to a hard tackle on Jorge Andres Carrascal, leaving Jordan with only 10 players for the last minute of the game.

For the full match, Colombia maintained ball possession for 63.5% of the time and registered 14 shot attempts – five on goal – compared to 10 shots – two on goal – for Jordan.

This was only the second time that the two sides – at very different stages in global soccer – have ever met; the first was 12 years ago.

Although Colombia, appearing in its seventh World Cup, isn’t favored to win or make it to the final, the country’s team has established veterans who have already played in multiple World Cups. They include goalkeeper Camilo Vargas, midfielder James Rodriguez and defensive midfielder Jefferson Lerma.

The Jordanians, on the other hand, heading to their first-ever World Cup, are still trying to make names for themselves on the world stage.

Colombia opens its World Cup schedule on June 17 against Uzbekistan in Mexico City. Jordan faces Austria on June 16 in Santa Clara.

Notes: There appeared to be about 10,000 more spectators in attendance for Colombia-Jordan than the 6,100 fans who watched Saturday’s Australia-Switzerland match. A clear majority were outfitted in canary yellow Columbia team jerseys. Sunday’s match was also considerably more lively than the relatively sedate affair between Australia and Switzerland. Fans at times whistled, chanted and even did the wave Sunday, giving the event a festive feel.