An Atlantic archipelago of barely 525,000 people, the Blue Sharks are the smallest nation by population ever to reach a World Cup knockout stage — a fairytale debut. Coached since 2020 by Bubista and captained by all-time great Ryan Mendes, they drew with Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia to finish second in Group H and set up a Round of 32 date with reigning champions Argentina.
Head coach
Bubista
Since Jan 2020
Group result
Group H (runners-up)
R32: vs Argentina
Squad avg age
28.7
26-player squad
Squad market value
€54.5m
est., 26 of 26
Next fixture
Jul 3 · Miami →
First World Cup; smallest nation ever to reach the knockouts
Squad
Full 26-man squad · club at selection · senior caps| # | Pos | Player | Club (league) | Age | Caps | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Vozinha | Chaves (POR) | 39 | 90 | €50k |
| 12 | GK | Mário Rosa | Montana (BUL) | 28 | 11 | €350k |
| 23 | GK | CJ dos Santos | San Diego FC (USA) | 25 | 1 | €1m |
| 2 | DF | Stopira | Torreense (POR) | 37 | 61 | €50k |
| 3 | DF | Diney | Al Bataeh (UAE) | 30 | 32 | €900k |
| 4 | DF | Pico | Shamrock Rovers (IRL) | 33 | 45 | €250k |
| 5 | DF | Logan Costa | Villarreal (ESP) | 24 | 28 | €15m |
| 13 | DF | Sidny Lopes Cabral | Benfica (POR) | 23 | 11 | €4m |
| 22 | DF | Steven Moreira | Columbus Crew (USA) | 31 | 20 | €1.5m |
| 24 | DF | Wagner Pina | Trabzonspor (TUR) | 23 | 14 | €11m |
| 25 | DF | Kelvin Pires | SJK (FIN) | 25 | 6 | €400k |
| 6 | MF | Kevin Pina | Krasnodar (RUS) | 28 | 31 | €5m |
| 7 | MF | Jovane Cabral | Estrela Amadora (POR) | 27 | 29 | €1m |
| 8 | MF | João Paulo | FCSB (ROU) | 27 | 41 | €900k |
| 10 | MF | Jamiro Monteiro | PEC Zwolle (NED) | 32 | 55 | €650k |
| 11 | MF | Garry Rodrigues | Apollon Limassol (CYP) | 35 | 61 | €300k |
| 14 | MF | Deroy Duarte | Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL) | 26 | 33 | €1.8m |
| 15 | MF | Laros Duarte | Puskás Akadémia (HUN) | 28 | 20 | €1m |
| 16 | MF | Yannick Semedo | Farense (POR) | 30 | 11 | €250k |
| 17 | MF | Willy Semedo | Omonia (CYP) | 31 | 38 | €1m |
| 18 | MF | Telmo Arcanjo | Vitória de Guimarães (POR) | 24 | 16 | €3m |
| 21 | MF | Nuno da Costa | İstanbul Başakşehir (TUR) | 34 | 9 | €400k |
| 26 | MF | Hélio Varela | Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) | 23 | 21 | €2.5m |
| 9 | FW | Gilson Benchimol | Akron Tolyatti (RUS) | 24 | 21 | €1.2m |
| 19 | FW | Dailon Livramento | Casa Pia (POR) | 24 | 22 | €800k |
| 20 | FW | Ryan Mendes(C) | Iğdır (TUR) | 35 | 96 | €200k |