Roberto Lopes (footballer, born 1992)

Roberto Lopes

Pico with Cape Verde at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
Personal information
Full name	Roberto Carlos Lopes
Date of birth	(1992-06-17) 17 June 1992 (age 33)
Place of birth	Crumlin, Ireland
Position	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Shamrock Rovers
Number	4
Youth career
	Home Farm
	Belvedere
	Bohemians
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2016	Bohemians	140	(3)
2017–	Shamrock Rovers	247	(18)
International career‡
2011	Republic of Ireland U19	1	(0)
2019–	Cape Verde	38	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20:29, 25 July 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 13:40, 27 March 2025 (UTC)

Roberto Carlos Lopes (born 17 June 1992), also known as Pico, ^[1] is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Shamrock Rovers. ^[1] Born in Ireland, he represents the Cape Verde national team.

Club career

Shamrock Rovers

In November 2016 Lopes joined Shamrock Rovers after leaving rivals Bohemians. ^[2]

During the 2019 FAI Cup, Lopes played for Rovers in the final. Rovers defeated Dundalk on penalties – winning the cup for the first time since 1987 and for a record 25th time. ^[3] In 2020, Lopes was a member of the Shamrock Rovers squad that won the League of Ireland title for a record 18th time.^{[ citation needed ]}

International career

Lopes was born in Ireland to a Cape Verdean father and Irish mother. ^[4] He made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland's under 19 squad in 2011. ^[5] Lopes made his international debut for the Cape Verde national team in a 2–0 friendly win over Togo in 2019. ^[6]

He was included in Cape Verde's squad for the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tournament. ^{[7] [8]}

He was part of the Cape Verdean squad under manager Bubista in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, where the nation made an extraordinary run to the quarter finals.

In October 2025, Lopes was part of the Cape Verdean team that qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a 3-0 win against Eswatini. In doing so, Lopes became the first ever League of Ireland player to qualify for the World Cup. ^{[9] [10]}

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 24 July 2025 ^[11]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FAI Cup		League of Ireland Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bohemians	2010	LOI Premier Division	0	0	1	0	0	0	0 [a]	0	0 [b]	0	1	0
	2011		3	0	0	0	1	0	0 [c]	0	4 [d]	0	8	0
	2012		15	0	3	1	0	0	0 [c]	0	3 [e]	0	21	1
	2013		30	1	1	0	3	0	—		0 [f]	0	34	1
	2014		30	0	3	0	3	0	—		1 [f]	0	37	0
	2015		31	0	2	0	2	0	—		2 [f]	0	37	0
	2016		31	2	2	0	2	0	—		3 [f]	2	38	4
	Total		140	3	12	1	11	0	0	0	13	2	176	6
Shamrock Rovers	2017	LOI Premier Division	25	1	4	0	3	0	4 [c]	0	0 [f]	0	35	1
	2018		29	4	1	0	0	0	2 [c]	0	0 [f]	0	32	4
	2019		35	3	5	0	1	0	4 [c]	2	0	0	45	5
	2020		15	3	3	1	—		2 [c]	1	—		21	5
	2021		27	1	2	0	—		6 [g]	0	1 [h]	0	36	1
	2022		27	1	0	0	—		7 [i]	0	0 [h]	0	34	1
	2023		31	2	1	0	—		4 [j]	0	1 [f]	0	37	2
	2024		33	1	1	0	—		14 [k]	0	0 [h]	0	48	1
	2025		25	2	1	0	—		3 [l]	0	0 [f]	0	29	2
	Total		247	18	18	1	4	0	46	3	2	0	314	22
Career total			387	21	30	2	15	0	46	3	15	2	490	28

1. Appearance(s) in the UEFA Champions League
2. Appearance(s) in the Setanta Sports Cup & Leinster Senior Cup
3. Appearance(s) in the UEFA Europa League
4. 3 appearances in the Leinster Senior Cup; 1 appearance in the Setanta Sports Cup
5. Appearance(s) in the Setanta Sports Cup
6. Appearance(s) in the Leinster Senior Cup
7. 2 appearances in the UEFA Champions League; 4 appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
8. Appearance in the President of Ireland's Cup
9. 3 appearances in the UEFA Champions League; 4 appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
10. 2 appearances in the UEFA Champions League; 2 appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
11. 4 appearances in the UEFA Champions League; 4 appearances in the UEFA Europa League; 6 appearances in the UEFA Conference League
12. 2 appearances in the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League campaign; 1 appearance in the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League campaign

International

As of matches played 25 March 2025 ^[12]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Cape Verde	2019	1	0
	2020	0	0
	2021	7	0
	2022	7	0
	2023	8	0
	2024	13	0
	2025	2	0
Total		38	0

References

1. "Roberto Lopes". Shamrock Rovers. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
2. "Shamrock Rovers sign Corry, Connolly, Lopes & Devine | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
3. "Shamrock Rovers lift FAI Cup after shootout win | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie.
4. Petrie, Richard (14 October 2025). "Roberto Lopes: World Cup-bound Cape Verde defender relishing his week to remember". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
5. "Lopes set for Afcon after call-up via LinkedIn". BBC Sport.
6. "Cape Verde 2–0 Togo". ESPN. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
7. "Group a rivals name squads for Afcon". BBC Sport.
8. "'It's a special moment for me' – Dubliner Roberto Lopes hoping for more AFCON success after opening win". Irish Independent. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
9. "Delight for Pico Lopes as Cape Verde qualify for World Cup". RTE Sport. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
10. "'I'm probably the luckiest person in the world' - Pico Lopes on Cape Verde's 2026 World Cup qualification". RTE Sport. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
11. Roberto Lopes at Soccerway . Retrieved 19 October 2019.
12. Roberto Lopes at National-Football-Teams.com