Roberto 'Pico' Lopes thought he was going to his parents' house for Sunday lunch. Instead, he walked into a street party in Crumlin, Dublin, flags everywhere, neighbours cheering — a proper send-off for a man about to play in the World Cup.
"When I saw all the flags I might have suspected this could be a party rather than a feast," the 33-year-old told RTE. You'd hope so, Pico.
The LinkedIn message that almost got ignored
The backstory is the best part. Cape Verde's federation first reached out to Lopes via LinkedIn in 2018. He ignored it. Thought it was spam. A follow-up message finally got translated, he made his debut in 2019, and six years later he's heading to the biggest tournament in football. One deleted message away from a very different story.
Lopes qualifies through his Cape Verdean father Carlos and plays his club football with Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland. He started nine of Cape Verde's ten World Cup qualifying games and was central to their run to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals in 2024. This isn't a squad filler — he's been one of their most important players across both campaigns.
Cape Verde open Group H against European champions Spain on June 15, then face Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. Getting out of that group would be a serious achievement, and their defensive solidity will matter from the first minute against Spain. Lopes's odds of keeping La Roja quiet aren't great on paper, but Cape Verde have made a habit of defying expectations.
Ireland's only connection to the World Cup
With Ireland knocked out on penalties by the Czech Republic in the playoffs — their first chance to qualify since 2002 — Lopes is, as neighbour Sheena Heavey put it, "the only Irish person to play in the World Cup for a long, long time."
That's the reality Irish football fans are sitting with. Their World Cup viewing in 2026 runs through a Crumlin lad who almost missed a LinkedIn notification.
