Another miracle of Cape Verde - LinkedIn took him to WC

From the streets of Dublin, across Cape Verde, all the way to the world’s biggest stage! The tiny African nation located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean made history on Monday night by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time ever — becoming the smallest country by land area to do so.

They've shown us nothing is impossible: Cabo Verde are at World Cup!

And part of that historic achievement is a man born in the Republic of Ireland — Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto Lopes. All thanks to one message he received on LinkedIn more than half a decade ago…

An extraordinary story has emerged from the Cape Verde national team camp — the team that has taken the football world by storm in the last 48 hours. And it all began with that career-networking platform where Lopes was first discovered. But let’s start from the beginning: how did an Irishman end up playing for an African national team?

Lopes’ father was born on the island of Sao Nicolau, part of Cape Verde, but left at 16 and eventually settled in Ireland, where he met Roberto’s mother. Roberto was born in Dublin and even made a one-minute appearance for Ireland’s U19 team back in 2011, against Italy in the European Championship qualifiers. But it quickly became clear that Lopes wasn’t destined for the top level — after all, he never played outside the Irish league.

However, seeing a former teammate switch national teams and later represent Tunisia inspired Lopes, then playing for Bohemians, to consider doing the same. He openly admitted this in an interview in May 2016.

The journalist who conducted the interview forwarded it to the Cape Verde Football Association that same day. They thanked him and asked for some video clips — highlight reels — of Lopes in action. Apparently impressed by what they saw, the federation decided a few years later to reach out.

But when the first message arrived on LinkedIn, Lopes ignored it, assuming it was a prank written in Portuguese — a language he didn’t even understand at the time. Luckily, a year later, another message came from the same account. After translating it, he realized it was a genuine invitation from the Cape Verde national team’s head coach.

“I was really paranoid,” Lopes told Sky Sports. “Growing up in an area where there were a lot of scam calls, I was probably too cautious. I swallowed my pride and, luckily, got back in touch just in time.”

Known affectionately as Pico, Lopes made his debut in a friendly against Togo during his first national team call-up — but had to wait another 533 days for his next appearance. His earlier U19 cap for Ireland slowed down the paperwork needed for eligibility, and the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t help either. But when he finally played 90 minutes in a 3–1 win over Cameroon in March 2021, he became a key part of the team — practically irreplaceable.

African qualifiers recap: Kenya's rise, Cabo Verde's history, North African dominance & playoffs on fire

The rest, as they say, is history. In Tuesday’s match against Eswatini, where the Blue Sharks sealed their ticket to North America, Lopes earned his 42nd cap — and has even captained the team twice. That game was the icing on the cake, though the real turning point came back in September, when Cape Verde stunned Cameroon with a 1–0 victory at home.

Now, Pico is officially part of Cape Verde’s football history — and if selected for the World Cup, he’ll play on the grandest stage of all at the age of 34.