Cape Verde became independent from
Portugal in 1975. The national team's first international was a 1–0 defeat to
Guinea on 29 May 1978, in a tournament in
Guinea-Bissau. The
Cape Verdean Football Federation was formed in 1982, and joined
FIFA in 1986. On 2 November 2002, Cape Verde faced a non-African team for the first time, in a scoreless friendly against
Luxembourg.
Cape Verdeans abroad, who are more numerous than the population of the islands themselves, are a major source of players for the national team. Most of Cape Verde's current international footballers play outside Cape Verde (mainly in Europe, but also in Asia), and some were born outside the islands. On 24 May 2010, Cape Verde played out a 0–0 draw in a friendly match against a full-strength
Portugal. At the time, Portugal was third in the FIFA rankings and Cape Verde were 117th. Their first World Cup qualifying campaign was for the
2002 tournament, in which Cape Verde was eliminated in the first round after one draw and a defeat against
Algeria. In the
qualification campaign for the
2006 FIFA World Cup and the
2006 Africa Cup of Nations, Cape Verde advanced to the final round after their first victory in a World Cup qualifier, beating
Swaziland. In the final round, the team made an impression with its first-ever away victory against
Burkina Faso, but finished fifth in
its group and failed to qualify for either tournament. On 15 October 2014, Cape Verde became the first of two nations to qualify for the
2015 Africa Cup of Nations alongside
Algeria, joining the host nation
Equatorial Guinea after defeating Mozambique 1–0 at home. The team, under newly appointed manager
Rui Águas, picked up where
Lúcio Antunes left off and managed to finish in the top two of the
group stage with two matches remaining to play in the qualification process, having been drawn in a group together with
Mozambique,
Niger and
Zambia. On 15 November 2014, Cape Verde secured first place in their group, finishing as Group F winners by defeating Niger 3–1 at home, with one match remaining to play for qualification. Cape Verde were drawn into Group B of the final tournament, together with
Zambia,
Tunisia and
DR Congo. On 18 January 2015 they played their first match against Tunisia at the
Estadio de Ebibeyin. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with
Héldon leveling the score off a
penalty kick in the 78th minute. Cape Verde then drew 0–0 against DR Congo four days later, with their group stage placement depending on the final match results of both teams. Facing off against Zambia on 26 January, the match ended in 0–0 draw, leaving both Cape Verde and Zambia eliminated from the Cup. Contested during a
tropical storm, with of rainfall, Cape Verde exited the tournament tied with DR Congo for points and undefeated, finishing behind them on goal difference. On 31 March 2015, Cape Verde won 2–0 against Portugal at the
Estádio António Coimbra da Mota in
Estoril. Cape Verde qualified for the
2023 Africa Cup of Nations and were drawn into Group B. They defeated
Ghana 2–1 in the first group stage match when
Garry Rodrigues scored a late match-winning goal in the second minute of stoppage time. In their second match, Cape Verde defeated
Mozambique 3-0. This result, along with others in the group, meant that Cape Verde entered the final group match already having secured passage to the knockout stage as the winners of Group B. In the last group stage match, Cape Verde faced
Egypt. After the Egypt had scored a go-ahead stoppage time goal,
Bryan Teixeira equalised deep into stoppage time to secure a 2–2 draw. In the Round of 16, Cape Verde faced
Mauritania, and captain
Ryan Mendes scored a crucial penalty late in the second half to send them to the quarter-finals, where Cape Verde faced South Africa. The match ended in a goalless draw after 120 minutes, thus sending it to penalties. Cape Verde were knocked out of the tournament after failing to convert four of their five penalty kicks, losing the shootout 1–2. Cape Verde qualified for the
2026 FIFA World Cup after winning their qualifying group in October 2025. ==Kit history==