Cape Verde: What you need to know about the World Cup debutants who stunned Spain

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From a LinkedIn-recruited defender to a 40-year-old star goalkeeper, here's what to know about the team from the African island nation that held European champions Spain to a 0-0 draw in their World Cup debut.

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16 Jun 2026 01:40PM

SINGAPORE: Cape Verde has been thrust into the spotlight after holding European champions Spain to a 0-0 draw, with their veteran goalkeeper brought to tears after a player-of-the-match performance.

The African island nation weathered 27 shots, making an instant impression in their World Cup debut on Monday (Jun 15).

Here are eight things to know about Cape Verde's national football team.

They are called the Blue Sharks

The team is nicknamed the Blue Sharks, or Tubaroes Azuis in Portuguese, a nod to Cape Verde's location in the Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of West Africa.

Animal-inspired nicknames are common in African teams. Algeria are the Fennecs ( a type of fox), the Democratic Republic of the Congo go by the Leopards and the Ivory Coast are known as the Elephants.

They are one of the smallest countries to make it to the World Cup

With a population of just over half a million, Cape Verde is the third-smallest nation by population to qualify for the World Cup, behind only Iceland in 2018 and Curacao this year.

Officially known as the Republic of Cabo Verde, the Atlantic archipelago takes its name from the Portuguese term for "green cape", a reference to the nearby Cap-Vert peninsula in present-day Senegal.

They topped a qualifying group that included Cameroon

Cape Verde booked their place at the World Cup by topping a group that included African giants Cameroon.

The Blue Sharks won seven of their 10 games in the qualifiers, losing just once. Their 3-0 victory over Eswatini sealed their first qualification for the world's biggest sporting event.

During qualifying, Cape Verde lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation and nearly 40 per cent of their goals came from set pieces.

They combine domestic talent with foreign-born players

More than half the squad hail from Cape Verde's diasporic communities.

Their centre-back Roberto Lopes, who is also known as Pico, was born in Ireland to a Cape Verdean father.

Logan Costa from Spanish football club Villarreal, the only player competing in one of Europe's top five divisions, is another example. The centre-back was born in France to Cape Verdean parents.

They recruited Pico via LinkedIn

Pico, a player with Ireland's football club Shamrock Rovers, was recruited via LinkedIn.

He initially dismissed a message written in Portuguese as spam, only realising later that it was a genuine call-up from the Blue Sharks when a follow-up message arrived in English nine months later.

Their newly minted star Vozinha is one of the tournament's oldest players

At 40, goalkeeper Josimar Jose Evora Dia, better known as Vozinha, is one of the oldest players at the World Cup.

He was named player of the match after making seven saves during the match against Spain, six of them from inside the box.

He is now the oldest goalkeeper in the tournament's history to keep a clean sheet on debut.

Within a few hours of the final whistle, his Instagram account grew from a mere 50,000 followers to more than five million.

They have Africa's top coach

Pedro Brito, commonly known as Bubista, was named the 2025 African coach of the year for leading Cape Verde to the World Cup.

The 56-year-old has been with the team for more than six years.

In the late 1990s, he captained the Blue Sharks and played centre-back for club sides in Angola and the Spanish lower leagues.

Their highest-ever FIFA World Ranking was 27th in Feb 2014

The Blue Sharks reached their record-high FIFA ranking of 27th in February 2014 and are now ranked 64th.

They joined FIFA in 1985 and played their first international match in 1978.

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Source: CNA/dc(sf)