Roberto Lopes

Bohemians

Lopes made his senior debut for Bohemians on 15 October 2010 as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat to eventual champions Sligo Rovers in the 2010 FAI Cup semi-final at Dalymount Park. Lopes made his League of Ireland debut on 4 March 2011 against Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds, coming off the bench in a 3–1 win. On 25 May 2012, Lopes scored his first goal for Bohemians in a 5–0 defeat of Drumkeen United in the second round of the 2012 FAI Cup. Lopes was appointed as vice-captain under manager Keith Long for the 2015 season. Club captain Derek Pender suffered a season-ending leg injury against Bray Wanderers on 22 May 2015, resulting in Lopes stepping in as captain for the remainder of the season. He was voted as Bohemians' Player of the Year in 2015. Lopes won his first senior trophy on 29 August 2016, captaining the club on the night and scoring twice as Bohemians defeated Wexford Youths 4–0 in the 2016 Leinster Senior Cup Final. Lopes' final home game for Bohemians took place on 7 October 2016, where he scored his final goal for the club in a 1–0 win over rivals Shamrock Rovers. He played his final ever game for the club away to Finn Harps on the last night of the 2016 League of Ireland season. During his time at Bohemians, Lopes sometimes played in midfield. While at Bohs, Lopes' father Carlos, a chef, prepared food for the team at his home and delivered it to Dalymount Park the night before matches.

Shamrock Rovers

At Bohemians, Lopes was…

Lopes was born in Ireland to a Cape Verdean father and an Irish mother. He made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland's under-19 squad in 2011. In 2018, Cape Verde national team coach Rui Águas became aware of Lopes' eligibility to play for the country and sent him a message on LinkedIn asking if he would like to declare. However, the message was written in Portuguese, which Lopes did not speak, and he ignored it believing it was spam. Nine months later, Águas followed up in English and Lopes, realizing his mistake, accepted the offer. He made his international debut for Cape Verde in a 2–0 friendly win over Togo in 2019. He was included in Cape Verde's squad for the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tournament. He was part of the Cape Verdean squad under manager Bubista in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, where the nation reached the quarterfinals. In October 2025, he was part of the Cape Verdean team that qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a 3–0 win against Eswatini. In doing so, he became the second current League of Ireland player to qualify for the World Cup, a day after St Patrick's Athletic goalkeeper Joseph Anang was part of the Ghana squad that qualified. On 15 June 2026, Lopes made his World Cup debut in Cape Verde's opening group game against Spain, keeping a clean sheet in a shock 0–0 draw with the eventual champions

Club

As of match played on 21 July 2026

International

As of matches played 3 July 2026

Roberto Carlos Lopes was born in Dublin. His mother Julie works as a school secretary and is originally from Terenure. His father Carlos was born in São Nicolau, one of the 10 islands that make up the archipelago of Cape Verde. Carlos previously worked as a sailor, travelling the world on commercial liners, and later became a chef. Roberto has two brothers: Christopher and Jack. The boys grew up in the family home in Crumlin. As a child, Lopes played football for Lourdes Celtic. In Cape Verdean culture, it is common for people to have a nominho (nickname) in addition to their legal name. Lopes' nickname, Pico, was coined by his father, meaning "strong man" or "strong fella". It also makes reference to Pico do Monte Gordo, the highest peak on the island of São Nicolau.