Cape Verde’s Roberto Lopes was working at a bank when he was recruited on LinkedIn to play soccer—he thought it was spam, now he’s at the World Cup

Roberto Lopes was working at a bank when a cold message changed his life. Seven years later, he's helping Cape Verde make World Cup history.

Source: [Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/06/20/cape-verde-roberto-pico-lopez-dublin-banker-to-world-cup-soccer-star-unlikely-linkedin-cold-message/)