70,000-plus watch Colombia top Uruguay in Charlotte Copa America semifinal, 1-0

Swaths of fans clad in yellow and sky blue filled the streets of Charlotte and sang chants as they anticipated the most prestigious soccer match that the city has hosted.

Bank of America Stadium was nearly sold out as 70,644 fans traveled from near and far to watch as 10-man Colombia topped Uruguay, 1-0, in Wednesday’s Copa America semifinal.

Lifted by a goal from Jefferson Lerma and a sea of supporters in the stands, Colombia will head to Miami to play reigning World Cup and Copa America champions Argentina on Sunday in this year’s final.

Uruguay will stay in Charlotte and take on Canada in Saturday’s third-place game.

The semifinal of the oldest international continental tournaments in the world brought ticket buyers from all 50 states and 60 countries to Charlotte, according to data provided by a Tepper Sports and Entertainment spokesperson.

About two-thirds of fans traveled from more than 100 miles away. Among domestic attendees, 54% traveled from outside the Carolinas.

Two of those supporters were Lucia Lopez and Agustin Aguerre — a mother and son who were born in Uruguay and traveled from their homes in Washington, D.C., and New York to watch Wednesday’s semifinal.

Both have seen plenty of Uruguay matches — Aguerre was at La Celeste’s last Copa America triumph in 2011 — but haven’t been able to go to a game together since Aguerre was little. After Uruguay topped Brazil in penalty kicks in Saturday’s quarterfinal, the two bought tickets and flew to meet up in Charlotte.

“There were about 20 Colombians for every Uruguayan (at the airport),” Aguerre said.

A stadium that was largely clad in yellow celebrated the game’s only goal. Former Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Everton star James Rodriguez swung in a corner kick that found the head of Lerma, who powered the ball into the back of the net to give Colombia a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute.

The goal was met by a roar from Colombia fans, including a family with three generations in attendance.

Edgar Ayerbe Sr., his son Edgar Ayerbe Jr. and daughter in-law Jeannette Ayerbe as well as their sons, Alex and Max Ayerbe, drove down from Raleigh for the historic game. Ayerbe Sr., who was born in Cali, Colombia, estimates he’s been to between 15 and 20 Colombia matches in his lifetime and got to accompany his grandsons for their first Colombia game.

“Even MLS isn’t like this,” Max said.

“You saw Messi, right?” his father intervened.

“Yeah I know, but it wasn’t like this, it wasn’t like this,” he responded — with the noise of drums, horns and chants from both sets of supporters behind him.

Edgar Sr.’s nephew, Dani Sandoval, was also in attendance, unsurprisingly.

He’s followed Colombia to every game this tournament with Parceros United, an organization and brand that hosts events and parties for Colombia fans before games in different cities. Sandoval, who was born in Colombia and moved to the U.S. at age 12, and a partner started the organization after he followed Los Cafeteros in Russia at the 2018 World Cup.

Despite Colombia having the better of the play and taking the lead after Lerma’s goal, a majority of the stadium became much more nervous minutes later when Colombia went down to 10 men after Daniel Munoz’s second yellow card.

Even in a tense second half in which Uruguay created chances to equalize, Colombia held on in front of a crowd of raucous supporters in Charlotte to extend its unbeaten run to a record 28 games — a streak that spans back to March 2022. After the final whistle, Uruguay and Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez jumped into the stands and exchanged punches with fans.

Despite the ugly scenes after the game ended, Colombia will get a chance to earn its second Copa America title — its only previous triumph came in 2001 — against Lionel Messi and Argentina on Sunday in Miami. Their passionate fans that descended on Charlotte will surely follow them.