Schmeichel sees his 2016 Leicester miracle reflected in Cape Verde's World Cup run

Kasper Schmeichel believes Cape Verde’s remarkable run at the 2026 FIFA World Cup carries the same spirit that drove Leicester City to one of football’s greatest upsets — and the former goalkeeper knows exactly what that feeling looks like from the inside.

Cape Verde, the third-smallest nation in the tournament, secured their place in the round of 32 where they will face defending champions Argentina. Their campaign caught the world’s attention after a 0-0 draw with Spain in the group stage, a result made all the more striking by the fact that Spain’s Lamine Yamal alone carries a transfer value of €200m (approximately $232.1m) — more than three times Cape Verde’s entire squad valuation of €54.4m (approximately $63.1m).

Speaking on World Cup Now, Schmeichel — now a pundit after a career that included winning the Premier League with Leicester in 2016 at odds of 5,000 to 1 — said the key ingredient is something no transfer budget can buy.

“You play without fear. You play for the joy of playing,” Schmeichel said. “But the thing that sets underdogs that achieve things apart for me is the culture. Culture is the hardest thing to build and the easiest thing to break — one bad decision, it takes one bad person to disrupt it and to ruin it.”

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha was central to the Spain draw, making seven saves and becoming an unlikely global phenomenon in the process, gaining over 14 million Instagram followers since that group-stage performance.

For Schmeichel, the parallels with his Leicester side are unmistakable. “To have everyone on the same page, that’s the real difficult bit,” he said. “For us, it was the connection with the club, with the fans, it was everything coming together at once. It’s the synergy of everything together that makes these incredible stories.”

Schmeichel, who was named Leicester City Player of the Season in both 2017 and 2021 and won Danish Player of the Year three times, said the Cape Verde story captures something fundamental about sport itself.

“It’s not always about that,” he said of financial valuations. “You win in different ways, and you can have success in different ways. What we’re seeing from Cape Verde — these underdog stories are the essence of sport.”