Roberto 'Pico' Lopes, a 33-year-old defender for Shamrock Rovers, was honored with a surprise farewell party in Crumlin, Dublin, on Sunday, May 17, before departing to represent Cape Verde at the 2026 World Cup [1, 2]. Lopes qualifies to play for Cape Verde through his father, Carlos, who is Cape Verdean, though Lopes himself was born and raised in Ireland [1, 2].
Lopes nearly missed the chance to play international football after ignoring an initial LinkedIn message in 2018, which he mistook for spam. He made his international debut for Cape Verde in 2019 after following up on a translated second message [1, 2].
He played a key role as Cape Verde reached the quarter-finals of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations and started nine of the ten matches in their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign [1, 2]. Ireland, by contrast, last qualified for the World Cup finals in 2002 and failed to reach the 2026 tournament after losing a semi-final playoff on penalties to the Czech Republic [1, 2].
Neighbour Sheena Heavey praised Lopes’ achievement, calling it a "huge achievement for Pico and his family, and for the nation really," and noted that "he's the only Irish person to play in the World Cup for a long, long time" [1]. Lopes himself said, "When I saw all the flags I might have suspected this could be a party rather than a feast" about the surprise send-off [1].
Cape Verde will open their World Cup campaign on June 15 against European champions Spain. They will also face Uruguay and Saudi Arabia in Group H matches at the tournament [1, 2].