Vozinha

Cape Verde · GK

The last dance

An island nation's improbable dream

Cape Verde is a chain of ten volcanic islands off the West African coast, home to barely half a million people. It has no business competing with footballing nations many times its size — and yet here are the Blue Sharks, on the edge of something that would have seemed impossible a generation ago.

Vozinha, 40 years old and 85 caps into his international career, is the elder statesman who has been there for the whole climb, the goalkeeper and quiet leader of a squad punching far above the weight of its tiny homeland.

A first-ever World Cup for Cape Verde would be one of the great stories of 2026 — proof that the tournament still has room for fairytales, and that a veteran keeper from a half-million-strong island can stand on the same stage as the giants of the game.

2026 World Cup squad profile

Position
GK
Squad role
Projected starter
Position rank
#1
Intl caps
85
Intl goals
0
0.02(model rating, 0–1)
0.0%

See Vozinha on the full Cape Verde scoring list →

Recent form

Rising

2022/23 international form vs the player's multi-season baseline (7.28 vs 6.10).

Tournament shot-stopping

We rank keepers on save %, saves and a goals-prevented proxy from major-tournament shot data (StatsBomb), but this goalkeeper hasn't faced enough on-target shots in the covered finals for a reliable block — so we don't show one rather than rank them off a handful of shots.

International profile

Vozinha has 85 caps and 0 international goals for Cape Verde, a GK projected to start. Big-5 European league career stats aren't available for this player, but the model still rates their 2026 outlook.

Scoring outlook: Cape Verde →Cape Verde squad & model →

Rest of the Cape Verde squad