Goalkeeper excels for underdogs
He becomes a World Cup star within minutes
June 15, 2026 – 9:16 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Cape Verde keeper Vozinha showed a very strong performance in the sensational draw against Spain. He becomes a celebrity on social media.
When Vozinha looked at his cell phone again after the game of his life, the Cape Verde goalkeeper could hardly have believed his eyes. While the goalkeeper caused European champions Spain to despair at the 0-0 draw at Africa’s World Cup debut, his follower numbers on Instagram shot up.
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Half an hour after the final whistle, Vozinha broke the mark of over 1.5 million people who follow him on the social network. The trend continues to rise. The Brazilian broadcaster Caze TV asked its viewers to follow the keeper during half-time. The actual goal, 100,000 followers, was reached after just one minute.
In the video | This is how the outsider celebrates the World Cup sensation
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The numbers continued to rise during the second round. After the final whistle, which made the sensation perfect and earned the World Cup debutant their first point, things continued lively. Vozinha, whose contract with GD Chaves of Portugal’s second division expires at the end of the month, now has over three times as many followers as his country’s population.
Vozinha is already the second “no-name” from the World Cup to get started through an appeal on social media. Tim Payne had previously become an internet star after an Argentine influencer voted the New Zealander the most unknown player in the finals. Payne is now followed by 5.7 million people on Instagram.