kids encyclopedia robot

Cape Verde national football team facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Cape Verde
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Tubarões Azuis
(Blue Sharks)
Crioulos (Creoles)
Association Cape Verdean Football Federation
Confederation CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation WAFU (West Africa)
Head coach Bubista
Captain Stopira
Most caps Babanco (62)
Top scorer Héldon Ramos (15)
Home stadium Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde
FIFA code CPV
First colours
Second colours
Third colours
FIFA ranking
Current 74 Decrease 2 (7 February 2019)
Highest 27 (February 2014)
Lowest 182 (April 2000)
Elo ranking
Current 104 Decrease 6 (3 March 2019)
Highest 69 (31 March 2015)
Lowest 146 (August 1998)
First international
 Cape Verde 0–1 Guinea 
(Guinea-Bissau; 19 April 1978)
Biggest win
 Cape Verde 7–1 São Tomé and Príncipe 
(Praia, Cape Verde; 13 June 2015)
 Liechtenstein 0–6 Cape Verde 
(San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain; 25 March 2022)
Biggest defeat
 Senegal 5–1 Cape Verde 
(Mali; 12 February 1981)
 Cape Verde 0–4 Ghana 
(Praia, Cape Verde; 8 October 2005)
 Guinea 4–0 Cape Verde 
(Conakry, Guinea; 9 September 2007)
 Burkina Faso 4–0 Cape Verde 
(Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; 14 November 2017)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances 3 (first in 2013)
Best result Quarter-finals, 2013

The Cape Verde national football team (Portuguese: Seleção nacional de futebol de Cabo Verde) represents Cape Verde in men's international association football and is controlled by the Cape Verdean Football Federation. The team has never qualified for FIFA World Cups but has qualified for three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, in 2013, 2015 and 2021.

History

Overview

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.

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.

Several players of Cape Verdean origin have chosen to play for other national teams. These include Eliseu, Nani, Oceano, Manuel Fernandes, Rolando, Nélson Marcos, Jorge Andrade, Miguel and Silvestre Varela, who all represent Portugal, as well as Mickaël Tavares, Jacques and Ricardo Faty (Senegal), Patrick Vieira (France), Gelson Fernandes (Switzerland), Henrik Larsson (Sweden), David Mendes da Silva, Lerin Duarte, Jerson Cabral (Netherlands) and Rui (Equatorial Guinea), among other examples.

World Cup and African Nations Cup qualifiers

Cape Verde has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but have qualified for the 2013 African Cup of Nations. Its first World Cup qualifying campaign was the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, in which Cape Verde was eliminated in the first round after one draw and one defeat against Algeria.

In the qualification campaign for the 2006 World Cup and the 2006 African Nations Cup, Cape Verde advanced to the Final Round after its 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 finals.

Old coach João de Deus from Portugal brought in several new players from European leagues for the 2010 World Cup/2010 African Nations Cup 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. Cape Verde's top goalscorer of the qualifying campaign was Dady.

Then, finally, Cape Verde qualified for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, after stunning Cameroon 3–2 on aggregate.

2013 Africa Cup of Nations

On 14 October 2012, Cape Verde managed to secure their first ever berth in the Finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, when they defeated Cameroon 3–2 on aggregate score, following a 2–1 defeat to Cameroon at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé, having won the home leg 2–0 in Praia just weeks prior to their qualification.

On 24 October 2012, Cape Verde were drawn into Group A of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, alongside Angola, Morocco and the host nation South Africa. Furthermore, Cape Verde played the opening match of the tournament at Soccer City in Johannesburg, Gauteng, against South Africa on 19 January 2013 – Soccer City being the host venue for the 2010 World Cup Final. 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 also had the 10th highest FIFA ranking in the CAF zone at the time of the drawing as well.

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, who were unfortunate to let an early lead slip. They however did win their first ever AFCON match against Angola, which they won 2–1 (despite an early own goal by captain Nando Maria Neves), through the late goals from Fernando Varela and Héldon Ramos, thus qualifying for the quarter-finals, and thus reaching the last eight in their maiden appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations.

On 2 February 2013, Cape Verde faced Ghana in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Cape Verde played a good match, with 16 shots on Ghana's goal to their eight, with seven shots on target to their two, Cape Verde proved to be especially dangerous from set-pieces, however Ghana's keeper Abdul Dauda managed to keep a clean sheet making some spectacular saves, and with Mubarak Wakaso scoring a penalty kick for Ghana in the 54' minute, and then scoring again in the closing minute of the game (90+5') on an open goal, Ghana would win the match 2–0, to move on to the semi-finals, and ending Cape Verde's exceptional 2013 Africa Cup of Nations campaign.

2015 Africa Cup of Nations

On 15 October 2014, Cape Verde became the first of two nations to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations alongside Algeria, joining the host nation Equatorial Guinea after defeating Mozambique 1–0 at home. The team, under newly appointed manager Rui Águas, picked up where Lúcio Antunes left off and managed to finish in the top two of the group stage with two matches remaining to play in the qualification process, having been drawn in a group together with Mozambique, Niger and Zambia. On 15 November 2014, Cape Verde secured first place in their group, finishing as Group F winners by defeating Niger 3–1 at home, with one match remaining to play for qualification.

Pooled from Pot 3 on 3 December 2014, Cape Verde were drawn into Group B of the final tournament, together with Zambia, Tunisia and DR Congo. On 18 January 2015 they played their first match against Tunisia at the Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyín. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with Héldon leveling the score off a penalty kick in the 78-minute. Cape Verde then drew 0–0 against DR Congo four days later, with the advancement out of the group stage depending on the final match results of both teams.

Facing off against Zambia on 26 January 2015, with both teams depending on the result of the other match between Tunisia and DR Congo and having to finish with a win themselves, the match ended in 0–0 draw, leaving both Cape Verde and Zambia eliminated from the Cup. Contested during a tropical storm, with 26 mm of heavy rainfall, Cape Verde exited the tournament tied with DR Congo for points and undefeated, yet losing to DR Congo on goal difference. Exhibiting good form, poise and defensive prowess, the team were only able to score one goal, while exiting at the group stage of their second appearance in the finals of the tournament, while remaining unbeaten in any Cup of Nations group stage match.

Other tournaments and notable matches

Cape Verde has two titles: It hosted and won the Amílcar Cabral Cup in 2000, and won the gold medal in the football tournament at the 2009 Lusophony Games. The team also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Lusophony Games. For the first time in its history, on 2 November 2002, it faced a non-African team, Luxembourg, in a friendly, resulting in a scoreless draw. On 4 September 2009, it faced Malta in a friendly, resulting in a 2–0 victory. 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. On 31 March 2015, a second friendly against Portugal resulted in a 2–0 victory in Portugal.

Stadiums

The team used to play their games at Estádio da Várzea. It is located in the capital city, Praia, on the Santiago Island. The stadium opened in 2006 and holds 10,000 people.

In 2014 the new stadium Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde was opened, able to host a capacity of 15,000 people. On 15 October 2014 the team qualified for their second Africa Cup of Nations at the new stadium, in a 1–0 victory over Mozambique, making them the first of all teams in CAF to qualify for the tournament.

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

The following matches were played or are scheduled to be played by the national team in the current or upcoming seasons.

2021

2022

2023

Coaching history

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.
  • Portugal Óscar (unknown–2003)
  • Portugal Carlos Alhinho (2003–2006)
  • Cape Verde Ze Rui (2006)
  • Brazil Ricardo da Rocha (2007)
  • Portugal João de Deus (2008–2010)
  • Cape Verde Lúcio Antunes (2010–2013)
  • Cape Verde Beto and Bera (2014)
  • Portugal Rui Águas (2014–2016)
  • Cape Verde Beto (2016)
  • Cape Verde Lúcio Antunes (2016–2018)
  • Portugal Rui Águas (2018–2019)
  • Cape Verde Janito Carvalho (2019–2020)
  • Cape Verde Bubista (2020–present)

Players

Current squad

  • The following players were called up for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches and friendly.
  • Match dates: 3, 7 and 12 June 2022
  • Opposition:  Burkina Faso,  Togo and  Ecuador
  • Caps and goals correct as of: 12 June 2022, after the match against  Ecuador
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Márcio Rosa (1997-02-23) 23 February 1997 (age 27) 7 0 Portugal CDC Montalegre
1GK Sixten Mohlin (1996-01-17) 17 January 1996 (age 28) 4 0 Sweden Örgryte IS
1GK Elber Binha (1991-06-24) 24 June 1991 (age 32) 1 0 Angola GD Interclube

2DF Stopira (1988-05-20) 20 May 1988 (age 35) 54 3 Hungary Fehérvár
2DF Roberto Lopes (1992-06-17) 17 June 1992 (age 31) 15 0 Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers
2DF Dylan Tavares (1996-08-30) 30 August 1996 (age 27) 15 1 France Bastia
2DF Diney (1995-01-17) 17 January 1995 (age 29) 14 0 Morocco ASFAR
2DF Steve Furtado (1994-11-22) 22 November 1994 (age 29) 12 0 Bulgaria Beroe Stara Zagora
2DF Steven Pereira (1994-04-13) 13 April 1994 (age 29) 10 0 Azerbaijan Sumgayit
2DF Logan Costa (2001-04-01) 1 April 2001 (age 22) 3 0 France Toulouse
2DF João Correia (1996-09-05) 5 September 1996 (age 27) 2 0 Portugal GD Chaves

3MF Jamiro Monteiro (1993-11-23) 23 November 1993 (age 30) 24 2 United States San Jose Earthquakes
3MF Kenny Rocha Santos (2000-01-03) 3 January 2000 (age 24) 20 1 Belgium KV Oostende
3MF João Paulo (1998-05-26) 26 May 1998 (age 25) 6 0 Portugal Feirense
3MF Deroy Duarte (1999-07-04) 4 July 1999 (age 24) 5 0 Netherlands Fortuna Sittard
3MF Nenass (1995-07-05) 5 July 1995 (age 28) 4 0 Norway Aalesunds FK
3MF Kevin Pina (1997-01-27) 27 January 1997 (age 27) 2 0 Portugal GD Chaves

4FW Ryan Mendes (1990-01-08) 8 January 1990 (age 34) 58 12 United Arab Emirates Al-Nasr SC
4FW Júlio Tavares (1988-11-19) 19 November 1988 (age 35) 48 8 Saudi Arabia Al-Faisaly
4FW Garry Rodrigues (1990-11-27) 27 November 1990 (age 33) 41 7 Greece Olympiacos
4FW Zé Luís (1991-01-24) 24 January 1991 (age 33) 19 3 Turkey Hatayspor
4FW Lisandro Semedo (1996-03-12) 12 March 1996 (age 28) 15 2 Poland Radomiak Radom
4FW Bebé (1990-07-12) 12 July 1990 (age 33) 6 3 Spain Rayo Vallecano
4FW Jovane Cabral (1998-06-14) 14 June 1998 (age 25) 5 1 Italy Lazio
4FW Gianni dos Santos (1998-11-21) 21 November 1998 (age 25) 1 0 Canada Pacific FC

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Cape Verde in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Vozinha (1986-06-03) 3 June 1986 (age 37) 59 0 Slovakia AS Trenčín vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
GK Kevin Sousa (1994-06-06) 6 June 1994 (age 29) 0 0 Cape Verde Mindelense vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
GK Dylan Silva (1999-02-10) 10 February 1999 (age 25) 0 0 Portugal Portimonense vs.  Nigeria, 16 November 2021

DF Steven Fortès (1992-04-17) 17 April 1992 (age 31) 13 0 Belgium Oostende vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
DF Kelvin Pires (2000-06-05) 5 June 2000 (age 23) 2 0 Slovakia Trenčín vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
DF Ludovic Soares (1994-05-08) 8 May 1994 (age 29) 3 0 Bulgaria Slavia Sofia vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
DF Cláudio Tavares (1997-03-23) 23 March 1997 (age 27) 3 0 Portugal União de Santarém vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
DF Jeffry Fortes (1989-03-22) 22 March 1989 (age 35) 26 0 Netherlands De Graafschap 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
DF Carlos Ponck (1995-01-13) 13 January 1995 (age 29) 23 0 Portugal Chaves 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
DF Henrique Brito (1997-04-21) 21 April 1997 (age 26) 0 0 Portugal Felgueiras vs.  Nigeria, 16 November 2021
DF Lorenzo Fonseca (1998-11-17) 17 November 1998 (age 25) 1 0 Malta St. Lucia vs.  Nigeria, 16 November 2021

MF Paulo Soares (1999-12-01) 1 December 1999 (age 24) 1 0 United States Rochester New York vs.  Ecuador, 11 June 2022
MF Patrick Andrade (1993-02-09) 9 February 1993 (age 31) 14 0 Serbia Partizan vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
MF Nuno Borges (1988-03-31) 31 March 1988 (age 35) 13 0 Portugal Casa Pia vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
MF Leandro Andrade (1999-09-24) 24 September 1999 (age 24) 2 0 Azerbaijan Qarabağ vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
MF Marco Soares (1984-06-16) 16 June 1984 (age 39) 52 3 Portugal Florgrade 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
MF Hélder Tavares (1989-12-26) 26 December 1989 (age 34) 12 0 Romania Voluntari vs.  Nigeria, 16 November 2021
MF Telmo Arcanjo (2001-06-21) 21 June 2001 (age 22) 1 0 Portugal Tondela vs.  Nigeria, 16 November 2021

FW Gilson Tavares (2001-12-29) 29 December 2001 (age 22) 7 3 Portugal Estoril Praia vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
FW Papalélé (1998-05-16) 16 May 1998 (age 25) 4 2 Portugal Montalegre vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
FW Vasco Lopes (1999-09-02) 2 September 1999 (age 24) 4 0 Portugal Farense vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
FW Iuri Tavares (2001-03-08) 8 March 2001 (age 23) 1 0 Portugal Vitória de Guimarães vs.  San Marino, 29 March 2022
FW Vagner Gonçalves (1996-01-10) 10 January 1996 (age 28) 10 1 Switzerland Sion 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
FW Willy Semedo (1994-04-27) 27 April 1994 (age 29) 10 0 Cyprus Pafos 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
FW Willis Furtado (1997-09-04) 4 September 1997 (age 26) 8 0 Norway Jerv 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
FW Ricardo Gomes (1991-12-18) 18 December 1991 (age 32) 14 4 Serbia Partizan vs.  Nigeria, 16 November 2021

WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
RET Player has retired from international football.
SUS Suspended from the national team.

Records

Players in bold are still active with Cape Verde.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 to West Germany 1974 Part of  Portugal Part of  Portugal
Argentina 1978 to Spain 1982 Not a member of FIFA Not a member of FIFA
Mexico 1986 to France 1998 Did not enter Did not enter
South Korea Japan 2002 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 0 2
Germany 2006 12 4 2 6 12 16
South Africa 2010 6 3 0 3 7 8
Brazil 2014 6 3 0 3 9 7
Russia 2018 8 3 0 5 5 14
Qatar 2022 6 3 2 1 8 6
Canada Mexico United States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/22 0 0 0 0 0 0 40 16 5 19 41 53

Africa Cup of Nations

Titles: 0
Appearances: 3
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad
Sudan 1957 Part of  Portugal
United Arab Republic 1959
Ethiopia 1962
Ghana 1963
Tunisia 1965
Ethiopia 1968
Sudan 1970
Cameroon 1972
Egypt 1974
Ethiopia 1976 Not a member of CAF
Ghana 1978
Nigeria 1980
Libya 1982
Ivory Coast 1984
Egypt 1986
Morocco 1988
Algeria 1990
Senegal 1992
Tunisia 1994 Did not qualify
South Africa 1996 Withdrew
Burkina Faso 1998 Did not enter
GhanaNigeria 2000 Did not qualify
Mali 2002
Tunisia 2004
Egypt 2006
Ghana 2008
Angola 2010
Equatorial GuineaGabon 2012
South Africa 2013 Quarter-finals 7th 4 1 2 1 3 4 Squad
Equatorial Guinea 2015 Group stage 11th 3 0 3 0 1 1 Squad
Gabon 2017 Did not qualify
Egypt 2019
Cameroon 2021 Round of 16 15th 4 1 1 2 2 4 Squad
Ivory Coast 2023 To be determined
2025
Total Quarter-finals 3/33 11 2 6 3 6 9

Honours

  • Amílcar Cabral Cup:
    • Champions: 2000
    • Runners-up: 2007
    • Third place: 1995
  • Lusophony Games
    • Gold medal: 2009
    • Bronze medal: 2006

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Cabo Verde para niños

kids search engine
Cape Verde national football team Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.