Cape Verde men's national football team

History

Early History

Cape Verde became independent from Portugal in 1975. The national team's first international was a 1–0 defeat to Guinea on 29 May 1978, in a tournament in Guinea-Bissau. The Cape Verdean Football Federation was formed in 1982, and joined FIFA in 1986.

On 2 November 2002, Cape Verde faced a non-African team for the first time, in a scoreless friendly against Luxembourg.

Cape Verdeans abroad, who are more numerous than the population of the islands themselves, are a major source of players for the national team. Most of Cape Verde's current international footballers play outside Cape Verde (mainly in Europe, but also in Asia), and some were born outside the islands.

On 4 September 2009, Cape Verde faced Malta in a friendly, resulting in a 2–0 victory.

2010s

On 24 May 2010, Cape Verde played out a 0–0 draw in a friendly match against a full-strength Portugal. At the time, Portugal was third in the FIFA rankings and Cape Verde were 117th.

Their first World Cup qualifying campaign was for the 2002 tournament, in which Cape Verde was eliminated in the first round after one draw and a defeat against Algeria. In the qualification campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, Cape Verde advanced to the final round after their first victory in a World Cup qualifier, beating Swaziland. In the final round, the team made an impression with its first-ever away victory against Burkina Faso, but finished fifth in its group and failed to qualify for either tournament.

Then coach João de Deus from Portugal brought in several new players from European leagues for the World Cup and AFCON qualifiers. Cape Verde finished second in its group in the second round, ahead of Tanzania and Mauritius, but behind Cameroon, and did not advance to the third round. Then, Cape Verde made their AFCON debut in 2013, after stunning Cameroon 3–2 on aggregate, following a 2–1 defeat at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé, having won the home leg 2–0 in Praia.

Cape Verde were drawn into Group A of the finals, alongside Angola, Morocco and the host nation South Africa; they played the opening match of the tournament at Soccer City in Johannesburg, Gauteng, against the hosts on 19 January 2013. Pulled from the fourth pot during the group stage drawing of the tournament, Cape Verde actually had the highest FIFA ranking of any team in their group at the time of the drawing, ranking at 51st overall, followed by Morocco (71st), South Africa (72nd) and Angola (83rd).

Cape Verde drew with South Africa 0–0 in the tournament's first match, before drawing with Morocco 1–1. Platini scored Cape Verde's first ever goal at the AFCON, before they won their first ever AFCON match against Angola, 2–1 (despite an early own goal by captain Nando Maria Neves), reaching the quarter-finals.

On 2 February 2013, Cape Verde faced Ghana in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, registering 16 shots on Ghana's goal to their eight, with seven shots on target to their two. Ghana eventually knocked Cape Verde out.

2020s: Rapid rise and World Cup qualification

Cape Verde qualified for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and were drawn into Group B. They defeated Ghana 2–1 in the first group stage match when Garry Rodrigues scored a late match-winning goal in the second minute of stoppage time. In their second match, Cape Verde defeated Mozambique 3-0. This result, along with others in the group, meant that Cape Verde entered the final group match already having secured passage to the knockout stage as the winners of Group B. In the last group stage match, Cape Verde faced Egypt. After the Egypt had scored a go-ahead stoppage time goal, Bryan Teixeira equalised deep into stoppage time to secure a 2–2 draw. In the Round of 16, Cape Verde faced Mauritania, and captain Ryan Mendes scored a crucial penalty late in the second half to send them to the quarter-finals, where Cape Verde faced South Africa. The match ended in a goalless draw after 120 minutes, thus sending it to penalties. Cape Verde were knocked out of the tournament after failing to convert four of their five penalty kicks, losing the shootout 1–2.

Cape Verde qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after winning its qualifying group in October 2025. In its opening game, the team held future World Cup champion Spain to a goalless draw, exceeding expectations and earning Cape Verde its first ever point. As Spain was ranked significantly higher than Cape Verde, the draw brought attention to all of the team's players, with the team's goalkeeper, Vozinha, gaining almost 30 million followers on social media platform Instagram. In its second match, the team tied Uruguay 2–2, scoring its first World Cup goals, and once again, exceeding expectations. With a third (0–0) draw against Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde finished undefeated and as runners-up in its group.

Cape Verde faced the defending champions Argentina in the Round of 32, holding them to a 1–1 score after the regulatory 90-minute period before going on to lose 3–2 in extra time. The team's performance at the World Cup almost instantly became highly regarded as one of the biggest underdog stories in World Cup history, and the match with Argentina as one of the greatest individual World Cup games of all time. Vozinha was voted into the Dream XI all-star team, while Sidny Lopes Cabral's equalizing goal against Argentina was named the Goal of the Tournament.

Kit history

Stadiums

The national team played at Estádio da Várzea in Praia, on Santiago Island. The stadium reopened in 2006 and has a capacity of 8,000.

Currently, the team plays the majority of its home matches at the Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde. The Tubarões Azuis matches have also been held at the 5,000-seat Adérito Sena Municipal Stadium in Mindelo.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Win

Draw

Loss

Fixture

Coaching history

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

Players

Current squad

The following 26 players were called up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and for the pre-tournament friendly matches against Serbia on 31 May and Bermuda on 6 June 2026.

Caps and goals correct as of 3 July 2026, after the match against Argentina.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Cape Verde in the last 12 months and are still eligible to represent.

Records

As of 3 July 2026

Players in bold are still active with Cape Verde.

Cape Verde records and statistics

Cape Verde player sent off: - (8 times)

Janicio Gomes - v DR Congo, 4 September 2005 (91st minute)

Kay - v Morocco, 29 March 2016 (53rd minute)

Hélder - v Lesotho, 9 September 2018 (87th minute)

Patrick Andrade - v Senegal, 25 January 2022 (21st minute)

Vózinha - v Senegal, 25 January 2022 (57th minute)

Steeve Furtado - v Comoros, 17 October 2023 (45th minute)

Kevin Pina - v Mauritania, 19 November 2024 (60th minute)

Diney Borges - v Chile, 27 March 2026 (43rd minute)

Opponent player sent off: - (7 times)

Lounes Gaouaoui - v Algeria, 2 June 2007 (26th minute)

Alex Song - v Cameroon, 6 September 2008 (90th minute)

Andre Pinto - v Portugal, 31 March 2015 (60th minute)

Eric Mathoho - v South Africa, 1 September 2017 (68th minute)

Ally Niyonzima - v Rwanda, 17 November 2020 (29th minute)

Yared Bayeh - v Ethiopia, 9 January 2022 (12th minute)

Hamad Al Shamsan - v Bahrain, 23 September 2022 (77th minute)

Competitive record

Record against other nations

As of 3 July 2026 after match against Argentina national football team

Positive Record

Neutral Record

Negative Record

Honours

Regional

Amílcar Cabral Cup

Champions (1): 2000

Runners-up (1): 2007

Third place (1): 1995

Lusofonia Games

Champions (1): 2009

Third place (1): 2006

Friendly

FIFA Series (1): 2024 Saudi Arabia A