Valerin Loboa

Valerin Loboa
Loboa with the Portland Thorns in 2025
Personal information
Full name Valerin Loboa Vásquez
Date of birth (2007-07-03) 3 July 2007 (age 19)
Place of birth Cali, Colombia
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Positions
Team information
Current team
 Portland Thorns
Number 88
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2025 Deportivo Cali 35 (8)
2025– Portland Thorns 8 (1)
International career‡
2024– Colombia U20
2025– Colombia 6 (1)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing  Colombia
Copa América Femenina
Runner-up2025 Ecuador
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
Third place2026 Poland
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21 September 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 3 September 2025

Valerin Loboa Vásquez (born 3 July 2007) is a Colombian footballer who plays as a forward or midfielder for Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Colombia national team.

Loboa made her professional debut for her home-town club Deportivo Cali in 2022 at the age of 14, and won the Liga Femenina with the club in 2024. A cruciate ligament injury sustained that year cost her a place at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup on home soil; she returned to become Deportivo Cali's leading scorer in 2025 and was called into the senior national team for the first time that July.

She scored on her senior debut against Bolivia at the 2025 Copa América Femenina, started the closing matches of Colombia's run to the final, and joined the Portland Thorns in September 2025 on a contract through 2028. At the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland she scored in stoppage time against Nigeria to win the quarter-final and take Colombia into the semi-finals for the first time in sixteen years.

Early life

Loboa is from Villa Rica, a small municipality in the north of the Cauca Department, about 40 kilometres from Cali. She is an only child; her mother is Francia Vásquez, who travelled with her to Poland for the 2026 World Cup.

She came through the youth system at Deportivo Cali, one of the longest-established women's academies in Colombia.

Club career

Deportivo Cali

Loboa joined Deportivo Cali, the club of her home city, and made her professional debut for them in 2022 at the age of 14. She was part of the squad that won the Liga Femenina in 2024, the club's first national title in the competition.

Later in 2024 she ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, an injury that ruled her out of the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, which Colombia hosted. She returned for the 2025 season and scored seven goals with three assists in 14 matches, finishing as Deportivo Cali's leading scorer and drawing attention as one of the league's outstanding young players. In four seasons with the club she made 35 appearances, scoring eight goals and providing four assists.

Portland Thorns

On 3 September 2025 Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League signed Loboa from Deportivo Cali for an undisclosed fee, on a contract running through the 2028 season with a club option for 2029. Jeff Agoos, the club's president and general manager of soccer operations, said her "talent and potential was showcased in one of women's football's biggest stages" and that she had committed to Portland "in spite of interest from some of the best clubs in the world". The move took her to a league in which several Colombia internationals were already playing, among them Leicy Santos, Ivonne Chacón and Ángela Barón.

She made her NWSL debut on 26 September 2025, replacing Deyna Castellanos in the second half of a 3–0 defeat away to Gotham FC. She became a more regular selection in 2026: by late September she had made six appearances that season, five of them starts, playing 419 minutes and scoring her first goal for the club.

International career

Youth

Loboa was in contention for Colombia's squad for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, held in Colombia, but missed the tournament because of the knee injury sustained earlier that year.

She was selected for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland. Colombia reached the round of 16, where they beat the hosts 1–0 in Łódź on 17 September 2026 through an 89th-minute own goal; Loboa led the Colombian side for expected goals in that match.

Three days later, in the quarter-final against Nigeria at the Władysław Król Municipal Stadium in Łódź, she scored in the second minute of stoppage time to settle a goalless match, running onto a pass played between the lines and finishing one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The win took Colombia into the semi-finals of the competition for the second time and the first since 2010, where they were drawn to meet North Korea. Loboa said afterwards that she had "sought the goal in each match", describing it as "something I longed for since the previous World Cup when I couldn't play due to injury".

Senior

Loboa received her first senior call-up in July 2025, when she was named in Colombia's 23-player squad for the 2025 Copa América Femenina in Quito, Ecuador. She made her debut on 22 July against Bolivia and scored in stoppage time to complete an 8–0 win, Colombia's largest ever victory.

She started Colombia's last three matches of the tournament, including the final. On 2 August 2025 Colombia drew 4–4 with Brazil in the final in Quito and lost 5–4 on penalties, finishing as runners-up; the result secured Colombia's place at the 2028 Olympic tournament.

Style of play

Loboa is a forward who has also been used in midfield, and is most often deployed on the flanks. Colombian coverage of her emergence has emphasised her directness and her effectiveness in one-on-one situations.

Career statistics

Club

As of 21 September 2026
ClubSeasonLeagueAppsGoals
Deportivo Cali 2022–2025Liga Femenina358
Total358
Portland Thorns 2025NWSL20
202661
Total81
Career total439

Honours

Deportivo Cali

Colombia

Colombia U20

Notes

  1. ↑ National outlets including El Colombiano give Cali as her birthplace; regional coverage of her 2025 homecoming describes Villa Rica as her home town.

References

  1. ↑ "La caucana Valerín Loboa recibe homenaje en Villa Rica tras su participación con la selección en la Copa América Femenina". Aportando al Cauca (in Spanish). 4 August 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "¿Quién es Valerín Loboa, la delantera que metió a Colombia en la semifinal del Mundial Sub 20?". El Colombiano (in Spanish). 21 September 2026. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  3. ↑ "Quién es Valerin Loboa, jugadora más joven de Selección Colombia en Copa América". Pulzo (in Spanish). 28 July 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Perfil: Valerin Loboa, goleadora de la Selección Colombia femenina en el Mundial". Minuto30 (in Spanish). 20 September 2026. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Portland Thorns Acquire Colombian International Forward Valerin Loboa via Transfer from Deportivo Cali" (Press release). Portland Thorns FC. 3 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Valerin Loboa deja el Cali para jugar en el Portland Thorns FC de Estados Unidos". El Colombiano (in Spanish). 3 September 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  7. ↑ "Thorns Fall at Gotham FC". Portland Thorns FC. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
  8. ↑ "Colombia vence a Polonia y avanza a Cuartos de Final del Mundial Femenino Sub20" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 17 September 2026. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  9. ↑ "Con un tanto de Valerin Loboa, Colombia se mete en las semifinales del Mundial Femenino Sub-20". El País (in Spanish). 20 September 2026. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Colombia es semifinalista de la Copa Mundial Femenina Sub20" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 20 September 2026. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  11. ↑ "Convocatoria de la Selección Colombia de Femenina de Mayores – CONMEBOL Copa América 2025" (in Spanish). Colombian Football Federation. 7 July 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  12. ↑ "Colombia shines against Bolivia and dreams of the semifinals". CONMEBOL. 22 July 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  13. ↑ "Inolvidable final de la Copa América femenina: Brasil remontó tres veces el marcador, empató 4-4 con Colombia y ganó el título en los penales". Infobae (in Spanish). 3 August 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  14. ↑ "Agudelo heroics see Colombia bag bronze". fifa.com. 26 September 2026. Retrieved 27 September 2026.