Baby-faced James Rodriguez has steered Colombia into the World Cup last 16 with such devastating effect that fans have stopped mourning the absence of top scorer Radamel Falcao.

The 23-year-old scored in the wins over Greece and Ivory Coast which put the South Americans into the knockout round for the first time since 1990.

The displays came as a welcome relief to a nation who feared their World Cup hopes crumbled when Falcao's knee buckled in a French Cup tie in January.

As well as filling the gap left by his Monaco teammate, Rodriguez also wears the symbolic Colombia number 10 shirt once carried in style by Carlos Valderrama.

"The responsibility weighs more on me, but I am not alone," said Rodriguez who now has four international goals.

"James Rodriguez? Excellent," said Colombia's coach Jose Pekerman.

"He has reached a very, very high level. He makes progress every day, he has matured. He's a good finisher and has a great vision for the game.

"He scores goals with his head even though he's not one of the tallest players."

Rodriguez, who is married to the sister of Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina, also helped Monaco reach the Champions League, compensating at club level for the long-term absence of compatriot Falcao.

Rated as the most successful passer of the ball in the French league, he scored nine goals, just one fewer than the team's top scorer, Emmanuel Riviere.

"My season at Monaco was good. I adapted to a new style of play, more physical, more tactical but also a new life. It's all been very positive," he told AFP on the eve of the World Cup.

Despite still being relatively young, Rodriguez has already won a host of honours -- the Europa League and three Portuguese league titles with Porto and helping Banfield to their one and only Argentina league triumph.

"He's going to improve even more, we have plenty of confidence in him," said Pekerman.

Despite the plaudits, Rodriguez is not getting carried away with Colombia's chances of progressing deep into the tournament with either Costa Rica, Italy or Uruguay all potential last-16 opponents.

"I hope to have a good World Cup. Why can't we be the revelation of the tournament. I hope we will be," he told AFP.