Cape Verde national football team

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The Cape Verde national football team (Portuguese: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; recognized as Cabo Verde by FIFA<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>), represents Cape Verde in men's international football, and is controlled by the Cape Verdean Football Federation. The team is nicknamed Tubarões Azuis (Blue Sharks in Portuguese). The national team played its first match on 19 April 1978 against Guinea, a match they lost 1–0. Following the federation's affiliation with the Confederation of African Football and FIFA in 1982, the national team entered Africa Cup of Nations qualification for the first time in 1992 and made its first FIFA World Cup qualification appearance in 2003. The team is coached by Pedro Leitão Brito.

Also known as “Creoles” (Portuguese: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), Cape Verde plays the majority of its home matches at the Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde. They qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time 2013. Since then, they also appeared in the 2015, 2021 and 2023 tournaments, reaching the quarter-finals in 2013 and 2023.

Cape Verde qualified to the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2026. By doing so, they became the second smallest country by land area (after Curaçao) and the third least populated (after Curaçao and Iceland) to qualify for the World Cup, with a land area of Template:Convert and a population of just under 525,000.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Cape Verdean Football Federation was formed in 1982, and joined FIFA in 1986.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="FIFA1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 24 May 2010, Cape Verde played out a 0–0 draw in a friendly match against a full-strength Portugal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the time, Portugal was third in the FIFA rankings and Cape Verde were 117th.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="FIFA2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="FIFA2"/>

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

Old coach João de Deus from Portugal brought in several new players from European leagues for the World Cup and AFCON qualifiers.<ref name="FIFA1"/> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>


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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 Estadio de Ebibeyin. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with Héldon leveling the score off a penalty kick in the 78th minute. Cape Verde then drew 0–0 against DR Congo four days later, with their group stage placement depending on the final match results of both teams.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Facing off against Zambia on 26 January, the match ended in 0–0 draw, leaving both Cape Verde and Zambia eliminated from the Cup.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Contested during a tropical storm, with Template:Convert of rainfall, Cape Verde exited the tournament tied with DR Congo for points and undefeated, finishing behind them on goal difference.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 31 March 2015, Cape Verde won 2–0 against Portugal at the Estádio António Coimbra da Mota in Estoril.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:2023 Africa Cup of Nations group tablesCape 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 their qualifying group in October 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Two players playing for the national football team of Cabo Verde

Kit history

Kit manufacturer

Kit providers Period
Template:Flagicon Adidas 1978–1992
Template:Flagicon Duarig 1992–1993
Template:Flagicon Saillev 1994–2001
Template:Flagicon Tepa 2002–2007
Template:Flagicon Erreà 2008–2009
Template:Flagicon KS Sport 2010–2011
Template:Flagicon Adidas 2012
Template:Flagicon Tepa 2013–2014
Template:Flagicon Lacatoni 2015–2017
Template:Flagicon Adidas 2018–2021
Template:Flagicon Tempo Sport 2022–present

Stadiums

Template:Cite section {{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

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

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

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2024

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2025

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2026

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Notes
  • 1 Non FIFA 'A' international match

Coaching history

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

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Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2025 Al Ain International Cup matches against Iran and Egypt on 14 and 17 November, respectively.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2025, after the match against Egypt.

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Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Cape Verde in the last 12 months and are still eligible to represent. Template:Nat fs r start Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs break Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs break Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs break Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs r player Template:Nat fs break WD Player withdrew from the roster for non-injury related reasons.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
SUS Suspended from the national team. Template:Nat fs end

Records

Template:Updated<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Players in bold are still active with Cape Verde.

Most appearances

Ryan Mendes is Cape Verde's top goalscorer and their most capped player.
Rank Player Caps Goals Career
1 Ryan Mendes 92 22 2010–present
2 Vozinha 84 0 2012–present
3 Babanco 62 5 2007–2019
4 Stopira 60 4 2007–present
5 Garry Rodrigues 57 9 2013–present
6 Jamiro Monteiro 53 5 2016–present
7 Héldon 52 15 2008–2019
Marco Soares 52 3 2006–2021
Fernando Varela 52 3 2008–2019
10 Júlio Tavares 48 8 2012–2022

Top goalscorers

Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Ryan Mendes 22 92 {{#expr:22/92 round 2}} 2010–present
2 Héldon 15 52 {{#expr:15/52 round 2}} 2008–2019
3 Caló 11 27 {{#expr:11/27 round 2}} 1995–2007
4 Garry Rodrigues 9 57 {{#expr:9/57 round 2}} 2013–present
5 Júlio Tavares 8 48 {{#expr:8/48 round 2}} 2012–2022
6 Lito 7 47 {{#expr:7/47 round 2}} 2002–2012
7 Toni 6 11 {{#expr:6/11 round 2}} 1992–2003
Dailon Livramento 6 19 {{#expr:6/19 round 2}} 2024–present
Bebé 6 27 {{#expr:6/27 round 2}} 2022–present
Djaniny 6 35 {{#expr:6/35 round 2}} 2012–present

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip* Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Squad Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
1930 to 1974 Part of Template:Fb Part of Template:Fb
1978 and 1982 Not a member of FIFA Not a member of FIFA
1986 to 1998 Did not enter Did not enter
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2002 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 0 2
Template:Flagicon 2006 12 4 2 6 12 16
Template:Flagicon 2010 6 3 0 3 7 8
Template:Flagicon 2014 6 3 0 3 9 7
Template:Flagicon 2018 8 3 0 5 6 13
Template:Flagicon 2022 6 3 2 1 8 6
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2026 Qualified 0 0 0 0 0 0 Squad 10 8 1 1 16 8
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2030 To be determined To be determined
Template:Flagicon 2034
Total — Template:Tooltip 0 0 0 0 0 0 50 24 7 20 52 57

Africa Cup of Nations

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Africa Cup of Nations record Qualification record
Year Round Position Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip* Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Squad Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip Template:Tooltip
1957 to 1974 Part of Template:Fb Part of Template:Fb
1976 to 1992 Not a member of CAF Not a member of CAF
Template:Flagicon 1994 Did not qualify 2 1 0 1 2 4
Template:Flagicon 1996 Withdrew Withdrew
Template:Flagicon 1998 Did not enter Did not enter
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2000 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 0 3
Template:Flagicon 2002 2 0 1 1 1 2
Template:Flagicon 2004 6 3 0 3 9 8
Template:Flagicon 2006 12 4 2 8 11 16
Template:Flagicon 2008 6 1 2 3 3 10
Template:Flagicon 2010 6 3 0 3 7 8
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2012 6 3 1 2 7 7
Template:Flagicon 2013 Quarter-finals 7th 4 1 2 1 3 4 Squad 4 4 0 0 10 3
Template:Flagicon 2015 Group stage 11th 3 0 3 0 1 1 Squad 6 4 0 2 9 6
Template:Flagicon 2017 Did not qualify 6 3 0 3 10 7
Template:Flagicon 2019 6 1 2 3 4 5
Template:Flagicon 2021 Round of 16 15th 4 1 1 2 2 4 Squad 6 2 4 0 6 3
Template:Flagicon 2023 Quarter-finals 5th 5 3 2 0 8 3 Squad 6 3 1 2 8 6
Template:Flagicon 2025 Did not qualify 6 1 1 4 3 7
Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2027 To be determined To be determined
Template:Flagicon 2029
Total Quarter-finals 4/35 16 5 8 3 14 12 — 82 33 15 34 90 95

Record against other nations

As of 17 November 2025 after match against Egypt

Template:Legend2 Template:Legend2 Template:Legend2

Opponent
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 % Win
 First meeting
 Last meeting
 Federation
Template:Fb 6 1 2 3 6 13 −7 16.67% 2000 2023 CAF
Template:Fb 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 50% 2018 2020 UEFA
Template:Fb 8 3 3 2 10 9 +1 37.5% 1988 2025 CAF
Template:Fb 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 100% 2022 2022 AFC
Template:Fb 2 0 0 2 0 2 –2 0% 2024 2024 CAF
Template:Fb 9 4 1 4 7 11 –4 44.44% 2004 2023 CAF
Template:Fb 9 2 3 4 10 12 –2 22.22% 2008 2025 CAF
Template:Fb 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 50% 2021 2021 CAF
Template:Fb 1 0 0 1 1 2 –1 0% 2023 2023 CAF
Template:Fb 3 0 2 1 2 3 –1 0% 2004 2015 CAF
Template:Fb 1 0 0 1 0 1 –1 0% 2022 2022 CONMEBOL
Template:Fb 3 0 3 1 4 7 –3 0% 2024 2025 CAF
Template:Fb 4 4 0 0 12 0 +12 100% 2009 2024 CAF
Template:Fb 6 4 2 0 10 1 +9 66.67% 2003 2025 CAF
Template:Fb 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 100% 2022 2022 CAF
Template:Fb 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0% 2013 2013 CAF
Template:Fb 9 2 3 4 7 13 –6 22.22% 1982 2007 CAF
Template:Fb 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0% 2025 2025 UEFA
Template:Fb 7 3 0 4 4 10 –6 42.85% 2001 2024 CAF
Template:Fb 8 2 2 4 6 10 –4 25.00% 1982 2020 CAF
Template:Fb 13 5 3 5 13 13 0 38.46% 1979 2010 CAF
Template:Fb 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 100% 2024 2024 CAF
Template:Fb 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0% 2025 2025 AFC
Template:Fb 4 1 0 3 2 3 –1 25.00% 2002 2015 CAF
Template:Fb 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 0% 2018 2019 CAF
Template:Fb 6 4 0 2 8 7 +1 66.67% 2000 2021 CAF
Template:Fb 4 2 1 1 6 5 +1 50.00% 2015 2025 CAF
Template:Fb 1 1 0 0 6 0 +6 100% 2022 2022 UEFA
Template:Fb 4 1 3 0 3 1 +2 25.00% 2002 2017 UEFA
Template:Fb 2 2 0 0 7 1 +6 100% 2012 2012 CAF
Template:Fb 13 4 3 6 7 15 –8 30.76% 1981 2011 CAF
Template:Fb 14 7 3 4 20 12 +8 50.00% 1982 2024 CAF
Template:Fb 4 4 0 0 7 1 +6 100% 2008 2025 CAF
Template:Fb 4 0 2 2 1 4 –3 0% 2013 2023 CAF
Template:Fb 5 3 1 1 7 4 +3 60.00% 2014 2024 CAF
Template:Fb 2 2 0 0 6 2 +4 100% 2014 2014 CAF
Template:Fb 3 0 2 1 2 3 –1 0% 2013 2021 CAF
Template:Fb 3 1 1 1 3 4 –1 33.33% 2006 2015 UEFA
Template:Fb 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0% 2020 2020 CAF
Template:Fb 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 100% 2022 2022 UEFA
Template:Fb 20 2 2 16 8 34 –26 10.00% 1979 2022 CAF
Template:Fb 13 4 2 7 7 14 –7 30.76% 1983 2022 CAF
Template:Fb 6 2 2 2 6 6 0 33.33% 2004 2024 CAF
Template:Fb 4 2 0 2 5 5 0 50.00% 2008 2018 CAF
Template:Fb 5 3 0 2 10 10 0 60.00% 2003 2023 CAF
Template:Fb 3 0 1 2 2 6 –4 0% 2012 2015 CAF
Template:Fb 4 1 0 3 1 3 –2 25.00% 2004 2018 CAF
Template:Fb 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 33.33% 2014 2015 CAF
Template:Fb 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 50.00% 2010 2011 CAF
Total (49) 236 88 56 92 243 259 –16 37.44% 1979 2025 FIFA

Honours

Regional

Friendly

References

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Template:Cape Verde national football team Template:Football in Cape Verde Template:2013 Africa Cup of Nations finalists Template:WAFU Football {{#invoke:navbox|navbox | name = CAF teams | title = National football teams of Africa (CAF) |listclass = hlist |group1 = North Africa (UNAF) |list1 =

|group2 = West Africa (WAFU) |list2 =

|group3 = East Africa (CECAFA) |list3 =

|group4 = Central Africa (UNIFFAC) |list4 =

|group5 = Southern Africa (COSAFA) |list5 =

|group6 = Non-regional Members |list6 =

|below= 1 Regional team, an associate member of CAF but not a member of FIFA

{{#invoke:portal-inline|main|size=tiny|Football in Africa}} }} Template:National sports teams of Cape Verde

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