The Cape Verde national football team

The Cape Verde national football team (Portuguese: Selecao nacional de futebol de Cabo Verde) represents Cape Verde in men's international association football and is controlled by the Cape Verdean Football Federation. The team has never qualified for FIFA World Cups but has qualified for three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, in 2013, 2015 and 2021.

History

Overview

The Cape Verde became independent from Portugal in 1975. The national team's first international was a 0–3 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in the 1979 Amilcar Cabral Cup.Cape Verde's football association was formed in 1982, and joined FIFA in 1986.

Cape Verdeans abroad, who are more numerous than the population of the islands themselves, are a major source of players for the national team. Most of Cape Verde's current international footballers play outside Cape Verde (mainly in Europe, but also in Asia), and some were born outside the islands.

Several players of Cape Verdean origin have chosen to play for other national teams. These include Eliseu, Nani, Oceano, Manuel Fernandes, Rolando, Nelson Marcos, Jorge Andrade, Miguel and Silvestre Varela, who all represent Portugal, as well as Mickael Tavares, Jacques and Ricardo Faty (Senegal), Patrick Vieira (France), Gelson Fernandes (Switzerland), Henrik Larsson (Sweden), David Mendes da Silva, Lerin Duarte, Jerson Cabral (Netherlands) and Rui (Equatorial Guinea), among other examples.

World Cup and African Nations Cup qualifiers

Cape Verde has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but have qualified for the 2013 African Cup of Nations. Its first World Cup qualifying campaign was the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, in which Cape Verde was eliminated in the first round after one draw and one defeat against Algeria.

In the qualification campaign for the 2006 World Cup and the 2006 African Nations Cup, Cape Verde advanced to the Final Round after its first victory in a World Cup qualifier, beating Swaziland. In the Final Round, t