Sports

5 things to know about Cape Verde and its World Cup training in Tampa

By Nicolas Villamil, Tampa Bay Times The Tribune Content Agency

Updated June 14, 2026 5:08 PM

On Monday, Cape Verde will make its World Cup debut against tournament favorite Spain in Atlanta, the realization of an accomplishment the country's president has compared to independence.

In the week leading up to the tournament, the team prepared in Tampa, on the fields where the Rowdies typically train.

Here's what to know about the team, as it looks to go from underdog to tournament darling.

Where is Cape Verde?

Cape Verde (rhymes with "bird") is an archipelago of 10 islands about 500 miles west of Senegal. It achieved independence from Portugal in 1975 and, shortly after, began to compete internationally in soccer. The men's national team debuted over a decade before the country held its first multiparty election in 1991.

Its path to the World Cup

Cape Verde, as evidenced by how rapidly it established a national soccer team, has long nurtured a passion for the sport. But it took decades for it to reach its first World Cup.

The team did not qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, a major continental tournament that has existed for nearly 70 years, until 2012. Then it started to accumulate meaningful results, including a friendly victory over Portugal in 2015, and was more competitive in World Cup preliminaries.

In the most recent round of qualification, Cape Verde was dominant in its group. The Blue Sharks, as they are affectionately known, won seven of their ten World Cup preliminary matches, tying two and losing only once.

Their wins included a victory over Cameroon, the African team with the most World Cup appearances, giving them breathing room atop the table. Decades of effort culminated in a 3-0 victory over Eswatini at their home stadium last October.

The tournament's expansion from 32 to 48 teams helped make qualifying a more feasible feat, too.

A worldwide diaspora

Central to the team's success is Cape Verde's diaspora. The number of Cape Verdeans living away from the islands exceeds the country's population, and the national team has drawn on that dispersed population for talent.

Its World Cup roster includes eight players born in the United States, Ireland, France and Portugal, and six players from the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The team has more foreign-born players than native Cape Verdeans.

As the team improves, more athletes with Cape Verdean parents, or more distant ancestry, are compelled to naturalize and compete for the island nation.

The diaspora brings the team fan support, too. Before arriving in Tampa, the team played a match in Connecticut against Bermuda, a 3-0 victory that drew nearly 10,000 Cape Verdeans.

And before its first afternoon practice Tuesday in Tampa, local Cape Verdeans eagerly turned out for autographs and pictures.

"They are our 12th player, and I think they can make a difference for us," said Garry Rodrigues, a Dutch-born player on the roster.

Who are its counterparts?

Cape Verde, along with Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan, is one of four countries making its World Cup debut this summer.

Curacao, an island off the coast of Venezuela with a population of less than 200,000, is the smallest country to ever make the tournament. Before this World Cup, Iceland, with its population of about 400,000, was the smallest country the competition had ever seen.

Iceland earned a tie against Argentina in its first match in the 2018 World Cup, but lost its following two games.

To outdo that result, Cape Verde will have to stun teams of a higher pedigree. In addition to Spain, the Blue Sharks will face Uruguay, a two-time tournament champion, and Saudi Arabia, who at the previous cup stunned Argentina, the eventual champion, in pool play.

Cape Verdeans to know

The Blue Sharks are led by Pedro Leitão Brito, better known as "Bubista," who before becoming the team's head coach was its captain. He knows the team's ascent well, and if he can manage Cape Verde to an unanticipated victory, or even a tie, his legend will only grow further.

The team has two Major League Soccer players on its roster: American-born CJ dos Santos, who plays for San Diego FC, and Columbus Crew defender Steven Moreira, who was born in France.

Logan Costa, a French-born center-back who plays for Villarreal in Spain's La Liga, has arguably the highest current professional profile on the roster.

Ryan Mendes, the team's captain and one of its most prolific scorers, is possibly Cape Verde's greatest player ever. Center-back Ianique dos Santos Tavares, also known as "Stopira," is beloved by Cape Verdean fans, too.