A 40-year-old former electrician from Cabo Verde went viral after keeping Spain, the reigning world champions, to a 0-0 draw with seven saves in his country's first-ever World Cup match.
Josimar José Évora Dias, better known as Vozinha, is Cabo Verde's goalkeeper. He didn't start his football career until he was 25.
Vozinha's Instagram following surged from around 50,000 to more than 6.2 million within days, even surpassing the population of his home country, an African nation of just over half a million people.
Looking back at Cabo Verde's football history, the country's first FIFA-standard football stadium, the Praia National Stadium, wasn't built until 2014, when China provided US$15 million in funding and sent workers to construct it.
Covering 94,000 square meters with a capacity of 15,000 spectators, the Praia National Stadium is the largest project in Cabo Verde since independence.
A decade later, on October 13, 2025, Cabo Verde defeated Eswatini 3-0 at the Praia National Stadium, securing its first-ever World Cup qualification.
"China helped us realize a dream," former Prime Minister José Maria Neves said at the 2014 handover ceremony for the Chinese-funded stadium.
Over the past 50 years, China has built more than 100 stadiums across Africa. Ivory Coast, another World Cup participant, has three Chinese-funded stadiums.
The 2026 World Cup is the first to feature 48 teams, with four debutants: Cabo Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan.
Reporter: Xie Hongzhou
Cameraman: Xie Hongzhou
Video & Poster: Deng Yingheng
Fu Rong (intern) also contributed to the story.
