Pedro Leitão Brito, known universally as Bubista, has resigned as head coach of the Cape Verde national football team. He leaves behind the kind of legacy most coaches spend entire careers chasing: taking one of the smallest nations on Earth to the FIFA World Cup for the first time ever.
The underdog story that broke the odds
Cape Verde qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on October 13, 2025, with a commanding 3-0 victory over Eswatini. The achievement made them the second-smallest nation to ever qualify for a World Cup, following Iceland’s run in 2018.
Bubista had been at the helm since January 2020. Before he was a coach, he captained the national team for 11 years.
During the 2026 World Cup group stage, Cape Verde, a nation of roughly 600,000 people, held Spain to a 0-0 draw and fought Uruguay to a 2-2 result. The Blue Sharks reached the round of 32 for the first time in their history.
