Pico Lopes heading to World Cup after Cape Verde complete fairytale

Cape Verde accumulated 23 points in their first successful World Cup campaign, winning seven, drawing two and losing one of their 10 qualifiers.

33-year-old Dublin-born Roberto Lopes has 42 caps for Cape Verde. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

The League of Ireland will be represented at next year’s World Cup after a Cape Verde side including Shamrock Rovers captain Roberto 'Pico' Lopes secured their route from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) section.

It's a fairytale story for the 33-year-old Dublin-born defender, who has 42 caps for his father Carlos’s birth country since declaring in 2019.

A storming qualification campaign offered the Blue Sharks an opportunity to clinch their passage against Libya on Friday but a 3-3 draw, in which Lopes scored an own goal, blew their first chance.

Another was presented on Monday against Eswatini.

The participation of Lopes was in doubt due to his wife Leah being due with their first child but he started in central defence at the Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde in Praia.

A scoreless first half offered the chasing Cameroon a glimpse of catching the table-toppers for automatic qualification but second half goals from Dailon Livramento, Willy Semedo and Stopira completed their 3-0 victory.

They accumulated 23 points in their first successful World Cup campaign, winning seven, drawing two and losing one of their 10 qualifiers.

The second-smallest nation to appear at the World Cup will now be part of the December 5 draw in Washington for the expanded 48-team showpiece kicking off next June. USA, Mexico and Canada will co-host the tournament.