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Mia Nurmamat

As Cabo Verde lined up against Argentina in the biggest match in the tiny island nation’s football history, China has played a hard-to-miss role in important chapters of its journey to the Fifa World Cup 2026 – from its players’ boots to the first standardised sports stadium.
Cabo Verde’s World Cup debut ended in a 3-2 extra-time defeat to Argentina in Miami, but the tiny African nation won global admiration after twice coming from behind, with goalkeeper Josimar José Évora Dias, commonly known as Vozinha, repeatedly denying Lionel Messi.
But despite their own nation’s failure to qualify, Chinese fans have taken pride in the World Cup run of the archipelago off the coast of West Africa, home to just over 500,000 people, largely because of China’s economic involvement.
Vozinha’s boots were made by Xufeng Sports, a Chinese company based in Putian in the southeast province of Fujian, one of China’s largest sports footwear manufacturing hubs.
The shoemaker received orders for more than 200 pairs of football boots before the tournament, followed by another 20 for the World Cup, co-hosted this year by the United States, Mexico and Canada. According to Fujian Television, the company only realised Vozinha was wearing its boots after his string of saves went viral on the internet.
After the match, the brand said it had received a flood of calls from fans seeking to buy the boots, though for now it was only able to accept domestic orders.
Cabo Verde’s daily training and historic World Cup qualifier were also held at the Chinese-built National Stadium in Praia, a 15,000-seat venue financed by Beijing and completed in 2014.
Arlindo do Rosário, Cabo Verde’s ambassador to China, said China’s support has been instrumental to the country’s sporting development, according to a Beijing Daily report on Saturday.

He said Cabo Verde, formerly known as Cape Verde, hoped to deepen cooperation with China in areas including renewable energy, the digital economy, tourism and technological innovation.
The national team also expressed gratitude to Chinese fans after departing the United States on July 4 local time at the end of its World Cup campaign, saying: “We want to thank every Chinese person that supports us. Thank you to all the Chinese community for the love that they show us,” according to China News Service.
China and Cabo Verde established diplomatic relations in 1976, shortly after the island nation gained independence from Portugal, and have expanded cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative since signing a cooperation memorandum in 2018.
Beyond the stadium, Beijing has financed or built a number of landmarks including the Poilão Dam, the University of Cabo Verde’s new campus and government buildings, making infrastructure central to bilateral ties.
The island nation is also home to a small but visible Chinese business community. Lin Jie, an entrepreneur from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, briefly went viral on Chinese social media after helping Vozinha’s mother secure a US visa to watch her son play.
Writing on Weibo, Lin said he learned of the case through the goalkeeper’s cousin, who worked at his shop. After finding that Vozinha’s mother could not afford the visa costs, he assisted with the application and saw her off on her flight to the United States.
The story, combined with Vozinha’s stand-out World Cup performance, boosted Cabo Verde’s profile among Chinese internet users, with searches on Tongcheng Travel surging more than 200 per cent in the 24 hours after the July 4 match, according to domestic media Jiemian News.
Bilateral trade reached US$116 million last year, driven overwhelmingly by Chinese exports to Cabo Verde. China’s main exports to the island nation included vehicles, aquatic products, machinery and electrical goods.


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From boots to building a stadium, China played a vital role in helping the West African nation qualify for football’s biggest tournament


From boots to building a stadium, China played a vital role in helping the West African nation qualify for football’s biggest tournament.


Cabo Verde wows at World Cup – with an economic assist from China

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From boots to building a stadium, China played a vital role in helping the West African nation qualify for football’s biggest tournament

From boots to building a stadium, China played a vital role in helping the West African nation qualify for football’s biggest tournament