Cape Verde national football team

The Cape Verde national football team (Portuguese: ; recognized as Cabo Verde by FIFA) 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: ), 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 smallest country by land area and the second least populated (after Iceland) to qualify for the World Cup, with a land area of and a population of just under 525,000 until Curaçao broke their land area and population records five weeks later when they qualified for the same tournament.

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 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.

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.

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. Facing off against Zambia on 26 January, the match ended in 0–0 draw, leaving both Cape Verde and Zambia eliminated from the Cup. Contested during a tropical storm, with of rainfall, Cape Verde exited the tournament tied with DR Congo for points and undefeated, finishing behind them on goal difference.

On 31 March 2015, Cape Verde won 2–0 against Portugal at the Estádio António Coimbra da Mota in Estoril.

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 their qualifying group in October 2025.

Alexandre Alhinho (2003–2006)
Ze Rui (2006)
Ricardo da Rocha (2007)
João de Deus (2008–2010)
Lúcio Antunes (2010–2013)
Rui Águas (2014–2016)
Beto (2016)
Lúcio Antunes (2016–2018)
Rui Águas (2018–2019)
Janito Carvalho (2019–2020)
Bubista (2020–present)

Players

Current squad

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

Caps and goals correct as of 31 May 2026, after the match against Serbia.

Recent call-ups

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

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.

Records

:Players in bold are still active with Cape Verde.

Most appearances

200px|right|thumb|[[Ryan Mendes da Graça|Ryan Mendes is Cape Verde's top goalscorer and their most capped player.]]

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!width=30px|Rank

! style="width:150px;"|Player

!width=50px|Caps

!width=50px|Goals

! style="width:100px;"|Career

|style="text-align:left;"|Ryan Mendes

|97

|22

|2010–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Vozinha

|87

|2012–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Babanco

|62

|2007–2019

|rowspan=2|4

|style="text-align:left;"|Stopira

|61

|2007–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Garry Rodrigues

|60

|2013–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Jamiro Monteiro

|53

|2016–present

|rowspan=3|7

|style="text-align:left;"|Héldon

|52

|15

|2008–2019

|style="text-align:left;"|Marco Soares

|52

|2006–2021

|style="text-align:left;"|Fernando Varela

|52

|2008–2019

|10

|style="text-align:left;"|Júlio Tavares

|48

|2012–2022

Top goalscorers

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!width=30px|Rank

! style="width:150px;"|Player

!width=50px|Goals

!width=50px|Caps

!width=50px|Ratio

! style="width:100px;"|Career

|style="text-align:left;"|Ryan Mendes

|22

|97

|2010–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Héldon

|15

|52

|2008–2019

|style="text-align:left;"|Caló

|11

|27

|1995–2007

|style="text-align:left;"|Garry Rodrigues

|60

|2013–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Júlio Tavares

|48

|2012–2022

|rowspan=2|6

|style="text-align:left;"|Lito

|47

|2002–2012

|style="text-align:left;"|Dailon Livramento

|20

|2024–present

|rowspan=3|8

|style="text-align:left;"|Toni

|11

|1992–2003

|style="text-align:left;"|Bebé

|27

|2022–present

|style="text-align:left;"|Djaniny

|35

|2012–present

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

{| class="wikitable" width="100%" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"

! colspan="10" |FIFA World Cup record

! rowspan="39" width="1%" |

! colspan="7" |Qualification record

! width="15%" |Year

! width="15%" |Round

! width="5%" |Position

! width="5%" |

! width="5%" |*

! width="5%" |

! width="5%" |Squad

! width="5%" |

|1930 to 1974

| colspan="9" |Part of

| colspan="6" |Part of

|1978 and 1982

| colspan="9" |Not a member of FIFA

| colspan="6" |Not a member of FIFA

|1986 to 1998

| colspan="9" |Did not enter

| colspan="6" |Did not enter

| 2002

| colspan="9" rowspan="6" |Did not qualify

| 2006

|12

|16

| 2010

| 2014

| 2018

|13

| 2022

| 2026||Group stage||TBD||0||0||0||0||0||0||Squad

|10

|16

|-Quarter-finals||7th||4||1||2||1||3||4||Squad

| 2030

| colspan="9" rowspan="2" |To be determined

| colspan="6" rowspan="2" |To be determined

| 2034

!Total:

!TBD

!50

!23

!20

!58

!60

Africa Cup of Nations

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;" width="100%"

! colspan="10" |Africa Cup of Nations record

! rowspan="39" width="1%" |

! colspan=7|Qualification record

!width="15%" |Year

!width="15%" |Round

!width="5%" |Position

!width="5%" |

!width="5%" |*

!width="5%" |

!width="5%" |Squad

!width="5%" |

|1957 to 1974

| colspan="9" |Part of

|1976 to 1992

| colspan="9" |Not a member of CAF

| 1994

| colspan="9" |Did not qualify

|2||1||0||1||2||4

| 1996

| colspan="9" |Withdrew

| 1998

| colspan="9" |Did not enter

| 2000

| colspan="9" rowspan="7" |Did not qualify

|2||0||1||1||0||3

| 2002

|2||0||1||1||1||2

| 2004

|6||3||0||3||9||8

| 2006

|12||4||2||8||11||16

| 2008

|6||1||2||3||3||10

| 2010

|6||3||0||3||7||8

| 2012

|6||3||1||2||7||7

| 2013||Quarter-finals||7th||4||1||2||1||3||4||Squad

|4||4||0||0||10||3

| 2015||Group stage||11th||3||0||3||0||1||1||Squad

|6||4||0||2||9||6

| 2017

| colspan="9" rowspan="2" |Did not qualify

|6||3||0||3||10||7

| 2019

|6||1||2||3||4||5

| 2021||Round of 16||15th||4||1||1||2||2||4||Squad

|6||2||4||0||6||3

| 2023

| Quarter-finals

| 5th

| 5

| 3

| 2

| 0

| 8

| 3

|Squad

| 2025

| colspan="9" |Did not qualify

|6||1||1||4||3||7

| 2027

| colspan="9" rowspan="2" | To be determined

| 2029

!Total

!Quarter-finals

!4/35

!16

!14

!12

!—

!82

!33

!15

!34

!90

!95

Record against other nations

As of 31 May 2026 after match against Serbia

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

!width=220|Opponent

!width=100|Pld

!width=70|W

!width=70|D

!width=70|L

!width=100|GF

!width=100|GA

!width=120|GD

!width=100|% Win

!width=120|First meeting

!width=120|Last meeting

!width=100|Federation

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 6 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 6 || 13 || −7 || 16.67% || 2000 || 2023 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 2 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 1 || +1 || 50% || 2018 || 2020 || UEFA

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 8 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 10 || 9 || +1 || 37.5% || 1988 || 2025 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 1 || +1 || 100% || 2022 || 2022 || AFC

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 2 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2 || –2 || 0% || 2024 || 2024 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 9 || 4 || 1 || 4 || 7 || 11 || –4 || 44.44% || 2004 || 2023 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 9 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 10 || 12 || –2 || 22.22% || 2008 || 2025 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 2 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 3 || 2 || +1 || 50% || 2021 || 2021 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 4 || –2 || 0% || 2026 || 2026 || CONMEBOL

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || –1 || 0% || 2023 || 2023 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 3 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 3 || –1 || 0% || 2004 || 2015 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || –1 || 0%|| 2022 || 2022 || CONMEBOL

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 3 || 0 || 3 || 1 || 4 || 7 || –3 || 0% || 2024 || 2025 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 4 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 12 || 0 || +12 || 100% || 2009 || 2024 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 6 || 4 || 2 || 0 || 10 || 1 || +9 || 66.67% || 2003 || 2025 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || +1 || 100% || 2022 || 2022 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0% || 2026 || 2026 || UEFA

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0% || 2013 || 2013 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 9 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 7 || 13 || –6 || 22.22% || 1982 || 2007 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0% || 2025 || 2025 || UEFA

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 7 || 3 || 0 || 4 || 4 || 10 || –6 || 42.85% || 2001 || 2024 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || +2 || 100% || 2022 || 2022 || CONCACAF

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 8 || 2 || 2 || 4 || 6 || 10 || –4 || 25.00% || 1982 || 2020 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 13 || 5 || 3 || 5 || 13 || 13 || 0 || 38.46% || 1979 || 2010 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || +1 || 100% || 2024 || 2024 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0% || 2025 || 2025 || AFC

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 4 || 1 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 3 || –1 || 25.00% || 2002 || 2015 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0% || 2018 || 2019 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 6 || 4 || 0 || 2 || 8 || 7 || +1 || 66.67% || 2000 || 2021 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 4 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 6 || 5 || +1 || 50.00% || 2015 || 2025 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 6 || 0 || +6 || 100% || 2022 || 2022 || UEFA

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 4 || 1 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 1 || +2 || 25.00% || 2002 || 2017 || UEFA

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 2 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 7 || 1 || +6 || 100% || 2012 || 2012 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 13 || 4 || 3 || 6 || 7 || 15 || –8 || 30.76% || 1981 || 2011 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 14 || 7 || 3 || 4 || 20 || 12 || +8 || 50.00% || 1982 || 2024 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 4 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 7 || 1 || +6 || 100% || 2008 || 2025 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 4 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 1 || 4 || –3 || 0% || 2013 || 2023 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 5 || 3 || 1 || 1 || 7 || 4 || +3 || 60.00% || 2014 || 2024 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 2 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 6 || 2 || +4 || 100% || 2014 || 2014 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 3 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 3 || –1 || 0% || 2013 || 2021 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 3 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 3 || 4 || –1 || 33.33% || 2006 || 2015 || UEFA

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 2 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0% || 2020 || 2020 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || +2 || 100% || 2022 || 2022 || UEFA

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 20 || 2 || 2 || 16 || 8 || 34 || –26 || 10.00% || 1979 || 2022 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 0 || +3 || 100.00% || 2026 || 2026 || UEFA

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 13 || 4 || 2 || 7 || 7 || 14 || –7 || 30.76% || 1983 || 2022 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 6 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 6 || 6 || 0 || 33.33% || 2004 || 2024 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 4 || 2 || 0 || 2 || 5 || 5 || 0 || 50.00% || 2008 || 2018 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 5 || 3 || 0 || 2 || 10 || 10 || 0 || 60.00% || 2003 || 2023 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 3 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 6 || –4 || 0% || 2012 || 2015 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFCCCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 4 || 1 || 0 || 3 || 1 || 3 || –2 || 25.00% || 2004 || 2018 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#FFFACD

| style="text-align:center;"| || 3 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 0 || 33.33% || 2014 || 2015 || CAF

|- bgcolor=#CCFFCC

| style="text-align:center;"| || 2 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 2 || 1 || +1 || 50.00% || 2010 || 2011 || CAF

|- sort="bottom"

! Total (52) !! 239 !! 89 !! 57 !! 93 !! 249 !! 264 !! –15 !! 37.23% !! 1979 !! 2026 !! FIFA

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

Notes

References

External links

FCF - Cape Verde Football Federation
O'JOGO: News on Portuguese speaking African football teams
Cape Verde at CAF
Cape Verde at FIFA
RSSSF archive of results 1979–
National Football Teams – Cape Verde