A 40-year-old Cape Verdean goalkeeper stopped the Spanish national team and became a social media sensation — As
The Cape Verde national team pulled off the biggest upset of the first round of the 2026 World Cup, earning a point against the powerful Spanish national team.
The match ended in a 0-0 draw, and the true hero of the game was 40-year-old goalkeeper Josimar Dias, known as Vozinha.
The experienced goalkeeper for the Portuguese club Chaves made seven incredible saves, was named Man of the Match, and set a unique age record for the World Cup.
With his selfless play and historic achievement, the veteran goalkeeper earned immense popularity among fans around the world.
The goalkeeper became the oldest goalkeeper in history to keep a clean sheet in his World Cup debut. Such a spectacular performance instantly turned the player into a true star on social media worldwide.
This incredible sporting success led to an unprecedented surge in the online audience on the player’s official page. Before the match against Spain’s “La Roja,” the team captain had a modest 50,000–56,000 followers on Instagram.
During a flash interview, a journalist stunned the soccer player with the news that his audience had grown to 1.5 million users. Currently, the star Cape Verdean’s account is followed by over 5.7 million fans.
The captain of the Cape Verde national team himself did not hide his emotions and genuine surprise at this turn of events.
“This is crazy,” the stunned goalkeeper replied while speaking with media representatives after the game.
Vozinha told reporters that he had dreamed of playing in the World Cup his entire career, but his grandparents did not live to see this moment, and his mother was unable to travel to the U.S. due to visa and financial issues.
“An excellent match. We worked incredibly hard for this moment and this dream. We are very proud. We knew it wouldn’t be easy. We came to the World Cup to compete. I know some people think we’re a small and weak team, but we’re here to fight and give it our all,” said Vozinha.
As reports on this.
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