From LinkedIn to the 2026 World Cup: this defender’s incredible journey 🤯 | OneFootball

When dreams become reality.

Cape Verde made history this week. For the first time, the Atlantic archipelago has qualified for a World Cup.

And at the heart of this blue epic, one player alone embodies the magic of football: Roberto “Pico” Lopes.

Born in Dublin to a Cape Verdean father and an Irish mother, Pico Lopes was not destined to become a national hero. Before lacing up his boots full time, he worked in… mortgage lending.

And it was on LinkedIn—yes, LinkedIn—that his life changed: contacted by a member of the Cape Verdean staff, he decided to take a chance with the national team.

He suddenly found himself in a locker room where everything was new: the language, the culture, the climate.

“I didn’t speak Portuguese, but football itself is universal,” he told Sky Sports.

A few years later, he’s wearing the captain’s armband.

The draw for the 2026 World Cup, scheduled for December 5, will be another step in this incredible adventure. No matter the opponents: Cape Verde will be there, proud and ambitious.

“It’s a childhood dream,” Lopes said at his latest press conference.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.

📸 QUEILA FERNANDES - AFP or licensors