How did a nation of 500,000 produce Africa’s Coach of the Year?

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·19 de novembro de 2025

How did a nation of 500,000 produce Africa’s Coach of the Year?

The island nation’s mastermind earns Africa’s top coaching honour in Rabat

How did a nation of 500,000 produce Africa’s Coach of the Year?

Vídeos OneFootball

Pedro Leitao Brito, widely known as Bubista has been crowned the 2025 CAF Men’s Coach of the Year following landmark ceremony held on Wednesday night at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Rabat, Morocco.

The Cape Verde head coach received the award after guiding the Blue Sharks to the first FIFA World Cup qualification in the country’s history.

Bubista’s recognition comes after extraordinary qualifying campaign, in which Cape Verde topped their group ahead of Cameroon sealing place at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. For nation of just over half million people, the achievement is monumental marking Cape Verde as the smallest African country ever to reach the global stage.

Cape Verde’s journey was calm, smart, and masterful. Bubista’s touch. 🌟💙 #CAFAwards2025
– quarta-feira, 19 de novembro de 2025

The Cape Verde coach triumphed over two heavyweight contenders for the award:

Mohamed Ouahbi who led Morocco’s U20 team to historic FIFA U20 World Cup title in Chile — the first for any African nation.
Walid Regragui who steered Morocco’s senior team through another dominant year and secured their own World Cup qualification.