From Crumlin to the World Cup with Cape Verde

Not all heroes wear a Cape Verde jersey, but we have found one to get behind at the World Cup this summer - let's go Roberto 'Pico' Lopes!

The big defender joined DavidMC and some young players from Transport Iveagh Trust FC in the Total Football studio to tell us his amazing story - watch the video up top now!

And when we say story, it's more of a fairytale. In 2025 he won the double with Shamrock Rovers and then made history as part of the Cape Verde team that booked their place at the World Cup Finals for the first time ever.

Pico explains that he qualifies to play for Cape Verde through his father Carlos. As the only Irish-born player at the tournament the Rovers captain says, "it's nice to be able to represent the two countries at a World Cup."

He made his debut for the AFCON side in 2019 and has gone on to become a key part of the Cape Verde defence. At the World Cup they are in Group H. And we are not going to lie, it's a tough one with Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.

But the League of Ireland star was looking forward to testing himself against the top players: "When we drew Spain, we knew we'd be coming up against some of the best players in the world. Especially the young talent that they have, like Pedri, like Lamine Yamal, like Nico Williams, so it'll be a huge test for us, but it's one that you want to be involved in as a footballer."

And they passed their first test with a brilliant draw against Spain. With Pico playing, the Blue Sharks can be your new favourite team this summer.

Stream all episodes of Total Football, presented by Aisling O'Reilly and DavidMC, on RTÉ Player here!

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