{"id":214140,"date":"2026-06-17T16:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T16:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/who-is-vozinha-40-year-old-cape-verde-goalkeeper-went-from-underdog-to-superstar-during-the-world-cup-today-com\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T16:33:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T16:33:25","slug":"who-is-vozinha-40-year-old-cape-verde-goalkeeper-went-from-underdog-to-superstar-during-the-world-cup-today-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/who-is-vozinha-40-year-old-cape-verde-goalkeeper-went-from-underdog-to-superstar-during-the-world-cup-today-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Vozinha? 40-Year-Old Cape Verde Goalkeeper Went from Underdog to Superstar During the World Cup – TODAY.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steals & Deals: Up to 85% Off Sun Hats, Solar Chargers, Skin Care, More<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Georgie Gassaro
Editorial Intern
Anyone who watched the 0-0 draw between Cape Verde and Spain during the FIFA <\/strong>World Cup<\/a> on June 15 now knows the name Vozinha.
The match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was historic for a few reasons. Spain is a World Cup favorite, for example. Vozinha, \u2014 whose given name is Josimar Jos\u00e9 \u00c9vora Dias \u2014 and a particular back-to-back shot play, however, are going viral.
All eyes were on this historic match that ended in zero points for both teams, but Vozinha is receiving praise online from headlines and fans alike.
So, who is this 40-year-old goalkeeper? And why can\u2019t the internet stop talking about him and his award-winning performance?
Read below to learn all about this standout player, the play that went viral, and when you can watch him and Cape Verde next as the 2026 FIFA World Cup continues.
From watching his protection of the net, one might think this goalkeeper\u2019s resume is stacked with World Cup wins, or at least previous matches. They would be wrong, because this game marked the first FIFA World Cup<\/a> for his country.
That\u2019s right, this also makes Vozinha\u2019s 27 saves<\/a>, seven of which were on target (that\u2019s right, seven direct saves for a total of zero goals let in<\/a>) for his first-ever World Cup tournament. This performance earned Vozinha Player of the Match.
After a 3-0 win over Eswatini in October 2025, Cape Verde, with a population of around 529,600, joined the list of the smallest countries \u2014 alongside Cura\u00e7ao, Iceland, Trinidad and Tobago, and others \u2014 to qualify for the FIFA World Cup<\/a>.
Vozinha, who grew up on the African island nearly 373 miles off the coast, faced more obstacles than a delayed growth spurt before reaching this level of professionalism and fame.
Vozinha first picked up soccer at home in Cape Verde.
\u201cI was one of the best keepers on my island but as a kid I was a bit small,\u201d Vozinha told FIFA<\/a> in 2024. \u201cThough I was the best, I didn\u2019t get picked in trials because of my height. But over the years I\u2019d see a lot of players leaving (the island of) Sao Vicente, mainly for Portugal as we\u2019re one of their (former) colonies.\u201d
Vozinha didn\u2019t go pro until his early 20s<\/a>, and played across clubs internationally before returning to Cape Verde for FIFA.
Vozinha\u2019s father was in the military while his mother worked. The Cape Verde vice-captain\u2019s nickname came from his grandparents, whom he said<\/a> he lived with and who died a few years ago.
Vozinha shut out Spain with seven direct saves during the match. The play going viral<\/a> was a nail-biter: a header across the goal area, which led to a back-to-back save of both a crossbar goal attempt and yet another header.
He then made more headlines after becoming visibly emotional after the match and embracing his teammates and the Spanish players.
While Vozinha now has a new fan base online thanks to his inspiring June 15 World Cup performance, his mother was unable to attend the first match because she could not afford the expense of a U.S. visa, Vozinha revealed in a post-match interview.<\/a>
Between tears, Vozinha also reflected on his long road to sudden fame.
\u201cThey gave everything for me, for my life,\u201d Vozinha said about his grandparents.
People flooded the comments with messages for FIFA.
\u201cGet his mom please @fifa\u201d one commenter wrote.
\u201cEvery mom deserves to see her child shine. Bring MOM ASAP!!!\u201d another commented.
In an interview with NBC News, <\/a>Vozinha said he recalls having 45,000 followers before the game. At the time of publication, Vozinha (@vozinha1<\/a>) has over 9.7 million (and growing!) followers on Instagram.
\u201cI just have to say thank you to all of them, to all of the followers,\u201d Vozinha said.
After the match, tributes to Vozinha started to surface online. One fan on TikTok parodied Vozinha\u2019s ability<\/a> to make excellence look effortless.
Vozinha and Cape Verde are set to face Uruguay on Sunday, June 21 at 3 p.m. PT\/6 p.m. ET in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Until then, fans have started to support him and his story online<\/a>.
\u201cIt\u2019s the best moment in my life, the best experience I\u2019ve had in what I love, and there is no words that I can (use) to describe this moment,\u201d Vozinha told NBC News. \u201cThis will be in my mind forever, and not just in my mind, but I think in the mind of all the Cape Verdean people.\u201d
Georgie Gassaro is an editorial intern for TODAY.com and an Ithaca College journalism student.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLCApple\u00ae, Apple logo\u00ae and App Store\u00ae are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Steals & Deals: Up to 85% Off Sun Hats, Solar Chargers, Skin Care, More Georgie GassaroEditorial InternAnyone who watched the 0-0 draw between Cape Verde and Spain during the FIFA World Cup on June 15 now knows the name Vozinha.The match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was historic for a few reasons. Spain is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-214140","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}