FIFA 2026: A LinkedIn message that took Roberto Lopes from Dublin bank to Cape Verde

A seemingly random LinkedIn message in 2018 changed the world for Roberto Lopes, a Dublin bank employee who played part-time for an Irish soccer club, Shamrock Rovers.

Lopes, nicknamed “Pico”, was contacted by the Cape Verde national team coach, Rui Aguas, via LinkedIn. He was looking for eligible soccer players for the squad of the small West African island nation.

But Lopes, born to an Irish mother and a Cape Verdean father, assumed the message was spam and ignored it. Aguas followed up again after nine months, this time in English, and said if Pico had seen his earlier message.

Lopes told BBC Sport that he copied the initial message and put it into Google Translate. It basically said, “We’re looking at getting new players into the Cape Verde squad, and would you be interested in declaring for Cape Verde?”

“I was absolutely buzzing with that. I was like, ‘Yep, 100% I’d love to be a part of the squad’,” he added.

Roberto Lopes, Cape Verde make FIFA debut

Roberto Lopes scrambled to get documents from his father, such as a birth certificate and a passport, and within three weeks, he was on a plane to make his international debut against Togo.

Now, after over seven years, Cape Verde and Pico are making their FIFA World Cup debut.

As Cape Verde evolved from footballing underdogs into the 2026 World Cup’s biggest surprise package, Pico has remained a constant fixture in the side.

The nation marked its tournament debut last week with a remarkable 0-0 draw against heavyweight contenders Spain, bridging a massive 61-spot gap in the FIFA world rankings. It is a milestone moment that Lopes admits he is still struggling to process.

“From when I was a young child, and I imagine every aspiring footballer when they were young, they wanted to play at the highest level possible and, for me, it doesn’t go any further than the World Cup,” Lopes said.

“Being able to represent my family playing for the national team and being able to put our family name out there at one of the biggest sporting events in the world fills me with great pride.”

Leaving banking for soccer was actually ‘risky’: Pico

Pico said that accepting the call-up was actually “risky” because there was no guarantee the gamble would pay off.

“It was risky because I was in a solid job,” Lopes recalled in a FIFA video released this week. “Where our league was at that moment, there wasn’t much security in terms of a career in football, so when [Aguas] spoke to me about his plan, his ideas, and what he had going forward, I had to be a part of it.”

Initially, Lopes had viewed Aguas’ offer as a short-term experiment, but what followed stretched far beyond that horizon. “I would say we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve, but we still want more as well.”

The risk finally paid off — as Microsoft executive vice president Ryan Roslansky, who oversees LinkedIn, says: “Big win for recruiters who don’t give up on a great candidate.”

This pivotal move took him from a corporate banking role in Dublin to the global sports stage, allowing him to establish a professional football career while securing valuable commercial endorsements with brands including Intersport Elverys.