It was a lucky coincidence that brought a brand trying to elbow its way onto the World Cup stage with a team that has become the tournament’s favorite underdog.But with Cape Verde’s shocking start to the tournament — back to back draws with Spain and Uruguay — Capelli Sport believes it was something more closely approaching fate that brought the partners together.The American sportswear company inked Serbia as its first national team program in 2025 and hoped the European side would bring it into the World Cup spotlight. But when the Balkan country failed to reach the tournament, Capelli was left looking for a way in. Then, Cape Verde, the archipelagic nation with a combined area of roughly 1,500 square miles, qualified for the World Cup. Capelli Sport reached out and within months, the two inked a deal.For George Altirs, the Lebanon-born owner of the New York-based company, it was the perfect partnership: a pair of underdogs going to their first World Cups, both with a story to tell of belief and belonging.“It’s a dream, it’s impossible,” Altirs said.Going into the tournament, Altirs believed that story would be seen by the whole world simply because of who the Os Tubarões Azuis, “The Blue Sharks,” were playing.“Against Spain, every European fan is gonna see it. We play against Saudi Arabia, OK, and then the whole Arab, Middle Eastern (region) is gonna see it. And we’ll play against Uruguay and the whole of South America is gonna see it,” Altirs said. “So put it together. I’m a believer. I believe things really are written for us.”No one, though, could have penned this story.Cape Verde shocked not just one, but two World Cup-winning countries to start its tournament. First, it put in a stunning defensive performance in a 0-0 draw with Spain, led by 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, who didn’t turn professional until he was 25 and now plays in Portugal’s second division.“We work in life to have moments like this,” Vozinha said after the game.Cape Verde Goalkeeper Vozinha goes viralThen, last Sunday, it nearly beat Uruguay, taking a 1-0 lead before eventually battling back to a 2-2 draw. Once again, Cape Verde had not just its own fans, but the footballing world, rooting for them.Now, the third-smallest country in World Cup history by population, could advance to the knockout stage with a result in its group finale against Saudi Arabia on Friday.“We’re here to show a country may be small, it may struggle financially, but if they are resilient, if they can endure a struggle, if they work in an organized manner, they can also stand shoulder to shoulder with other major teams with players who are on another level and with different financial conditions,” Cape Verde coach Bubista said in a press conference through a translator.“So we owe that to our continent and we owe that to our people. I think that in sports in general, but particularly in football, this has to do with organization and courage and determination. Once you are on the pitch, a lot of things become equal. As big as the opponent might be on the world stage, many national teams become equal.“We wanted to show that in football, but also in other aspects of life, you can achieve great things regardless of your challenges, whether they are financial or any other kind. Just so long as you have a dream and chase after it.”It’s more than its shirt partners could have expected, but for Altirs, who arrived in the U.S. in the 1980s on a student visa and built a successful career in an industry in which he had no experience, then essentially broke into the sports apparel industry as a “soccer dad,” it is exactly the type of story they believe they can tell better than anyone else.Cape Verde celebrates a historic draw vs. Spain (Marvin Ibo Guengoer / GES Sportfoto / Getty Images)Altirs was born in Mejdlaya, a small village with a population of about 1,000 in the north of Lebanon. He grew up in a family of six, with a “blue-collar” father who “used to work very, very hard to provide to us a roof over our heads so we could eat and then study,” Altirs said.Altirs would spend his days on a dirt soccer field playing the game he loved and studying. The Lebanese Civil War, which began in 1975, pushed his family into the mountains to seek safety. Eight years later, he went to Beirut for college, then got a student visa to study as a software engineer in the U.S.Upon arrival in the U.S., Altirs started to work in the warehouse of a company, loading and unloading trucks. He was promoted at the company and started to take an interest in the industry, then launched a hair accessories company out of a Brooklyn basement with his brother. That company, GMA Accessories, eventually grew into Capelli New York, which manufactures and distributes fashion accessories and apparel.“This is what came, this is what I did, and then I loved it,” Altirs said. “You better love it, because that’s what is available. And make sure you make the best out of it.”When Altirs’ son started playing soccer, he searched for the right club for him. Eventually, in 2011, he founded a soccer club called Cedar Stars in New Jersey. Altirs wanted to use a specific color of green for the shirts, and when other companies couldn’t provide it, he decided to use Capelli’s supply chain to outfit them himself. He asked his wife to design the kits, then created 24 uniforms for the team.That was the birth of Capelli Sport.What started with one team and one youth club has grown substantially. More than 450,000 youth soccer players alone will wear Capelli Sport uniforms in 2026. The company has expanded to 14 different sports product lines, across sports like lacrosse, field hockey, volleyball and basketball. They have partnerships with more than 500 youth clubs.Altirs started to expand the company’s reach into the pro ranks, buying and outfitting a professional team in the USL, the Wilmington Hammerheads, in 2013. Capelli Sport now has partnerships with 130 professional sports teams, including with USA Lacrosse and USA Field Hockey.“I did not plan to become as big as we are,” Altirs said, with a laugh.But his passion for soccer, his kids’ involvement in the sport and the flexibility of controlling his own supply chain made growth easier.“I always say be passionate about something, love it,” Altirs said. “If it’s a great idea, be obsessed with this great idea, and do whatever it takes to make it happen.”It’s how Capelli wound up on a World Cup stage in which more than three-quarters of the teams are outfitted by Nike, Adidas or Puma. Cape Verde’s blue shirts were designed with a triangular pattern that is a direct replica of flight patterns between the island nations, one the company hoped would tell a story of the network of the islands. They called it “Connected through Rhythm.” The company had just a few months to design and manufacture the shirts for Cape Verde to be ready for the tournament.“We are relatively a small brand in sport,” Altirs said before the tournament. “It’s very cool, very unique, very different. And then hopefully, good luck to (Cape Verde), and good luck to us. And then we have to see what we want to do with it. To really be an example for other dreamers.”Altirs never could have expected what he witnessed when he flew to Atlanta for Cape Verde’s World Cup debut on June 15.Cape Verde players take the field in their warmup kits before their World Cup debut vs. Spain (Pablo Garcia / Soccrates / Getty Images)Is a knockout date with Messi next?Cape Verde has more than delivered on their end of the deal.It was relentless defensively against Spain. Despite ceding 74 percent possession to a tournament favorite and facing 27 shots, behind Vozinha’s performance they held to a scoreless draw. Capelli promptly made Vozinha’s goalkeeper jersey available for sale on its website.They then backed up what many chalked up as a lucky result with a standout performance against Uruguay. Kevin Pina scored Cape Verde’s first World Cup goal in the 21st minute, and after Uruguay answered back twice before halftime, Hélio Varela jumped on a poor back pass and finished into an empty net to make it 2-2.Now, Cape Verde doesn’t just have a chance to reach the next phase. There’s a 55 percent chance of finishing second in the group and a two percent chance of winning the group, according to The Athletic’s World Cup tracker. A win over Saudi Arabia would clinch advancement — and that could likely mean a matchup against Lionel Messi and Argentina.“Since we arrived here that was our goal — we got here on merit,” Cape Verde’s Pico Lopes said after the draw. “You don’t win a prize to get to the World Cup. You have to compete, you have to qualify and it’s difficult to get here. And now you’re mixing in with some of the best teams in the world. Our goal was first and foremost to attack the first game and show that we belong here and nothing changed for the second one. … We’ve got a good opportunity of reaching the next phase, which would be amazing for our group. It’s something we wanted, it’s part of our goals, just to show we deserve to be at this level.”