World Cup 2026: Irish club fans are “extremely proud” of Cape Verdean hero Roberto Lopez

Spain entered the match as strong favourites, but the spirit and ability shown by Lopez, who has been playing for Shamrock Rovers since 2017, and his teammates proved to be enough to deliver a major shock.

“I think everyone expected it to be a walk in the park for the Spaniards, and that’s understandable,” Stafford continued.

“I think what Pico has shown is his toughness, his organizational skills have always been excellent, and for the team to maintain their form and discipline for as long as they did yesterday is a credit to them and I think he was a big part of that.

“He also showed his level of fitness, not just physically but mentally, to be caught. Yes, they pushed their luck sometimes, but when you play with European champions, you’re going to have to push your luck sometimes.”

Born in Dublin to a Cape Verdean father and Irish mother, the former Bohemian player became the first League of Ireland player to feature in a World Cup finals match.

He made his debut for the Ireland national team in 2019, having previously made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland Under-19 team in 2011.

Following his move to Shamrock Rovers and with the club competing in the Champions League and Europa League, Lopez received a message on his LinkedIn profile from then Cape Verdean coach Rui Aguas, which started the ball rolling.

“Everyone knows his story, it’s probably the most talked-about story in history at this point in terms of the whole LinkedIn thing. I would say he’s probably tired of telling people the story,” Stafford said.

“He’s a great ambassador for the league, he’s the president of the Footballers’ Association here, so he’s doing great things off the field and on the field as well.”

In their remaining two matches in Group H, Cape Verde will face Uruguay on Sunday, June 21 (23:00 GMT) and Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 27 (01:00).

“The feeling here is that yesterday’s result should motivate them more and they should build on that.

“It may be difficult to replicate that kind of work rate in those games, and that discipline, but if they can do it against a good team, I don’t see why they can’t do it in the remaining two games.”