When 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha was shown how many Instagram followers he had gained after helping Cape Verde hold off Spain in its World Cup debut, he laughed in disbelief.
He entered Monday’s 0-0 draw in Atlanta with about 50,000 followers and, less than 24 hours later, had surged to nearly 10 million, surpassing NBA star Victor Wembanyama’s 6.2 million and NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ 6.4 million.
“Crazy, that’s crazy,” Vozinha told Brazilian YouTube channel CazeTV after the match that turned him into one of the World Cup’s breakout names so far. It was CazeTV, the only channel in Brazil with the rights to all 104 World Cup games, that took credit for the surge in followers.
CazeTV is anchored by Brazilian streamer Casimiro Miguel, known as Caze. The channel has more than 31 million YouTube subscribers and is known for sports broadcasts with a more informal, conversational style and a focus on community engagement. During the broadcast of Vozinha’s performance, Caze noticed the goalkeeper had a relatively small Instagram following and urged viewers to follow him.
Spain, one of the tournament favorites, was widely expected to cruise past the World Cup debutants. But La Roja could not find a way past Vozinha and a disciplined defense that answered everything Spain’s attack threw at it.
