Oldcastle family’s World Cup journey with pal Pico Lopes

An Oldcastle family were fully invested in the Cape Verde fairytale of World Cup 2026 as the Burke family were Stateside to support Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes.

Jess Halpin Burke, her husband Niall, and their son Bród were able to spend some time with family friend Lopes in the hours leading up to the cracker of last 32 tie between Cape Verde and Argentina, which saw Lionel Messi’s squad edge out a brave African side.

Niall has been close with Lopes most of his life, having gone to school in Crumlin together. Their friendship continued into adulthood, as Niall was the Shamrock Rovers captain’s best man at his wedding. Then, the tough-tackling centre back returned the favour for Jess and Niall, as he was a groomsman for their wedding in 2022.

As Cape Verde earned their qualification for the finals in North America, it was clear to the Burke’s they’d be supporting one of their closest friends.

Setting off to Atlanta, Niall was present to see Lopes and Cape Verde’s hard-fought draw with Spain in their opening game. Then, as the side defied the odds to qualify for the knockout stages, Jess and Bród joined in on the fun.

"I manifested them coming second in the group so we’d get to see them in Miami. We booked the flights on the Monday, and we were over there by the Wednesday,” Jess said.

Prior to kick off with Argentina, there was an opportunity to wish the defender good luck. “We were sitting with Pico and some of his friends and family. We had an absolutely brilliant time. The vibes were incredible.

“I’d say we were among the one per cent of Cape Verde fans. 99 per cent of the crowd there were Argentina fans… A lot of people in Argentina jerseys around us were actually very disappointed Cape Verde didn’t win, because they showed so much heart.

“It was the most insane game I’ve ever seen. When Cape Verde scored their first goal, the reactions were just insane.

We were with all of Pico’s friends and family, and then everyone else was rooting for Argentina.

Then the second goal for Argentina broke our hearts, but the elation for the [second] equaliser was absolutely crazy.”

Although Jess was disappointed that Lopes’ side were pipped before a chance of a penalty shootout, she still has nothing but fond memories of the trip to Miami.

As for Lopes, who has entered a new realm of stardom following the World Cup campaign, he is the same person you see online as he is in person.

“He’s very much himself in interviews.

He’s so grounded, he’s so honest, he’s so sound. He’s always delighted to get in the pictures with fans and things like that.”