Cape Verde star’s dream summer continues with Champions League qualification heroics
World Cup star Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes was one of the stories of the tournament and his fairytale summer shows no sign of slowing down after his return to club football.
Cape Verde won plaudits around the globe for their performances in Group H and against 2022 winners Argentina in the round of 32. The Blue Sharks lost 3-2 but took the champions to extra time in one of the games of the tournament.
The group stage got off to a sensational start with a famous 0-0 draw with former world champions and now 2026 finalists Spain. Goalkeeper Vozinha earned the headlines but central defender Lopes was his last line of protection.
Final chance to play our FREE match predictor and win £1,000
Pico Lopes is already back in action for Shamrock Rovers
Lopes famously followed an unusual path to the World Cup. Born and raised in Dublin, the 34-year-old defender was contacted on LinkedIn and invited to play for Cape Verde, which he did for the first time eight years ago.
If starting there and ending up playing directly against eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi in a World Cup knock-out match weren’t remarkable enough, Lopes has performed heroics back in the Republic of Ireland.
Lopes captains Shamrock Rovers, the Dublin team that won the League of Ireland Premier Division in 2025 and are seven points clear of Bohemians in the paused 2026 season.
Their latest title win earned them a place in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. Rovers played their second leg on Tuesday, and the outcome at Tallaght Stadium was yet another piece of history achieved by their skipper just weeks after he left his country’s first World Cup.
The Hoops lost the first leg 2-0 against Maltese side Floriana last week. Lopes wasn’t available to play so soon after his return from the World Cup, and the result left the LoI team with a mountain to climb.
“No League of Ireland team had ever overturned a two-goal, first-leg deficit in a European tie and the Hoops had left themselves with work to do after a sloppy 2-0 defeat in Malta last week,” reported RTE Sport after the second leg, which Rovers won 5-1 to clinch the tie with goals to spare.
“But with captain Pico Lopes back in the side after his World Cup adventure with Cape Verde, there was no mistaking Rovers’ determination to atone for that setback and they hounded Floriana from start to finish.”
There’s no more rest for Lopes or Rovers. They’re straight into the second qualifying round against Armenian team Ararat. Their seeding and the defeat of Floriana put them on the champions path, offering the best possible route to the Champions League proper.
The New Saints of Wales were knocked out by Azerbaijani side Sabah in the first qualifying round on Tuesday. Northern Ireland’s Larne beat Tre Fiori from San Marino over two legs.
