Football in Cape Verde

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Logo of the Cape Verde Football Association, the Federação Caboverdiana de Futebol (FCF)

Football isthe most popular sporton the West African island republic of Cape Verde .

The country has been a Portuguese colony since its discovery and settlement by the Portuguese in 1456 . To this day, football in Cape Verde has been shaped by its Portuguese origins and relationships, for example through a number of branches of the Portuguese clubs Benfica Lisbon and Sporting Lisbon . Many Cape Verdean footballers also play in Portugal , sometimes even for the Portuguese national football team . The ubiquitous emblems of Portuguese clubs on cars and in cafes on Cape Verde bear witness to this interest in football in Portugal , and the award-winning film Fintar o Destino is also about it.

The national football association of Cape Verde is the Federação Caboverdiana de Futebol (FCF). It was founded in 1982 after the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975. The FCF organizes the national football leagues, in particular the first division, the Campeonato Cabo-verdiano de Futebol . She is also responsible for the Cape Verdean national football team.

The national team

Main entrance to the Estádio da Várzea stadium

The Cape Verdean national football team usually plays their home games in the Estádio da Várzea in the capital Praia . So far, she has not qualified for a World Cup, and only once did she take part in the African Continental Cup , at the 2013 African Cup of Nations , where the country was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Ghana. In 2000 the Cape Verdean team won the Amílcar Cabral Cup . Thanks to the numerous international matches and a large number of respectable results, the Cape Verdean national team was often able to achieve a middle position in the FIFA world rankings . In December 2014, Cape Verde was ranked 40th in its ranking by FIFA. The best ranking for Cape Verde was 27th place in February 2014, the worst was 182nd place in April 2000.

The leagues

The top division of Cape Verde is the national first division, the Campeonato Cabo-verdiano de Futebol . It is made up of the winners of the leagues of each individual Insular league of the nine inhabited islands of Cape Verde. The two largest islands Santiago and Santo Antão are each divided into a northern and a southern league.

The record champions are Clube Sportivo Mindelense from Mindelo , followed by Sporting Clube da Praia , the 20th branch of Sporting Lisbon, founded in 1923 in the capital Praia .

Cup competitions

With the national cup Taça de Cabo Verde (also Taça Nacional ) and the Taça Independência , which have been played since 2007, two cup competitions are held on Cape Verde. In addition, in parallel to each island championship, each island association of the FCF also organizes an island cup.

The Boavista Futebol Clube was the only club to win the national cup, the Taça Nacional , twice in 2009 and 2010 .

Web links

Commons : Soccer in Cape Verde  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ FIFA World Ranking as of December 18, 2014 , accessed on December 31, 2014
  2. ↑ List of national champions Cape Verdean since 1979 on the FCF website, accessed on December 31, 2014
  3. ^ Register of the Sporting Lisbon branch clubs , accessed on December 31, 2014
  4. ↑ List of cup winners on the website of the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation , accessed on December 31, 2014