Rovers captain Pico is set for World Cup opener

Shamrock Rovers captain Pico Lopes is expected to line out for Cape Verde at 5pm today as Cape Verde take on Spain in their opening World Cup match.

Being held at the Atlanta Stadium, the game sees Cape Verde go in as massive underdogs with Spain among the favourites to lift the trophy.

Raised in Crumlin, Lopes qualifies to play for the Cape Verde through his father and as the famous story goes, was reached out to via LinkedIn by the national team several years ago to play for the country.

Lopes is one of the only people to ever play in the League of Ireland while being called up for a world cup squad, the other person being Joey Anang, current goalkeeper of St Patrick’s Athletic who travels with the Ghana team.

Shamrock Rovers captain Pico Lopes is in tonight’s squad against Spain. Image: Geoge Kelly

Lopes has played almost 50 times for the Blue Sharks since making his debut in 2019 and has enjoyed some memorable feats with the team including reaching the Afcon Quarter Finals back in 2024.

He will have a tough battle on his hands today should he play with Spain’s attacking line consisting of superstar players such as Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres to name just a few.

Following the game against Spain, Cape Verde find themselves back in action on Sunday the 21st when they take on Uruguay before their final group game against Saudi Arabia on the 27th of June.