Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes will compete at the FIFA World Cup in 2026 after Cape Verde secured their maiden qualification for the biggest competition in world football.

The diminutive nation of 500,000 people will compete with the world’s elite after securing their stunning qualification for the event which takes place in the USA, Canada and Mexico next summer.

The Blue Sharks punched above their weight to win their group which featured African giants Cameroon.

BREAKING: Cape Verde and Pico Lopes are going to next summers FIFA World Cup! Unbelievable scenes. pic.twitter.com/EBOLln6ZHQ

— Between the Stripes (@betweenstripes) October 13, 2025

Lopes, who was born and raised in Dublin, made his debut for Cape Verde back in 2019, his father’s country of birth.

He ended up representing them in bizarre circumstances, having revealed that a random message on LinkedIn from then manager Rui Águas gave birth to his international career.

He told the Daily Mail: “Through sheer ignorance and probably rudeness, I didn’t translate the message! I just assumed it was spam and was a standard LinkedIn greeting in Portuguese, which I don’t speak.

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“I went back and copied and pasted the original message into Google Translate and he was asking me: “We’re trying to get some new players, would you like to declare for Cape Verde?”

“I was absolutely delighted as I never thought it was a real opportunity and it just presented itself in front of me – I’m just so glad I wrote back to him in time!Q

Lopes went on to play for Cape Verde at the African Cup of Nations in 2022 and again in 2024, but will top those feats next summer.

Robert Lopes to make LOI history at World Cup

Lopes’ impending appearance at the 2026 World Cup is a historic feat for the League of Ireland.

In doing so, he will become the first ever League of Ireland representative to compete at a FIFA World Cup.

As pointed out by Dan McDonnell on Twitter, he could well be the only Dubliner of his generation to play in the competition.

Pico Lopes off to the World Cup. Such an incredible story – he surprised people by growing into such an accomplished LOI defender and he might end up being the only Dublin kid of his generation to play at a World Cup. And as a LOI player too which will be a first.

— Daniel McDonnell (@McDonnellDan) October 13, 2025

A remarkable achievement from a veteran of Irish soccer.

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