Cape Verde held former champions Spain to a 0-0 draw in their opening Group H match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday. The debutants faced 23 shots, had just 38 percent possession, but walked away with a point. At the heart of that defensive display was Roberto Lopes — a man whose path to the World Cup started with a LinkedIn message he ignored for nine months.

Lopes was born in Ireland to a Cape Verdean father and an Irish mother. He spent his entire professional career in Ireland, starting at Lourdes Celtic, then Bohemians, and now Shamrock Rovers. He even represented Ireland at U-19 level.

Then came the LinkedIn message. The Cape Verde Football Association reached out, but the message was in Portuguese — a language Lopes doesn't speak. He ignored it.

Nine months later, they messaged again, this time in English, asking if he had thought about their proposal. Only then did he Google-translate the original message, which asked if he would be interested in declaring for Cape Verde.

“It was a weird angle to come at (via LinkedIn); it was explained to me afterwards that they had difficulty contacting my club, but when I saw the opportunity was there in front of me, I was 100% behind it from the minute one,” Lopes told Reuters before the tournament.

He made his debut for Cape Verde in 2019 in a 2-0 win over Togo. Since then, he's become a key figure in the Blue Sharks' defence, helping them qualify for their first-ever World Cup.

Cape Verde is one of the smallest countries to ever qualify for the World Cup. Their group also includes Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. Lopes isn't satisfied with just showing up.

“I think we have to try and get out of the group; that has to be the goal. You can’t really say you want to get to the final; I think the first hurdle is trying to get out of your group, trying to stay there a bit longer,” he said. “We know it'll be difficult; we're in a tough group, but we have to believe we can do it – we got here on merit, and we have to be competitive now.”

For now, Cape Verde have already done something most debutants dream of — they took a point off a former champion. And it all started with a LinkedIn message that almost got deleted.