Irlanda Lopes
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Irlanda Tavares Spínola Lopes[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 6 October 1996 | ||
| Place of birth | Fogo, Cape Verde | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Vitória de Guimarães | ||
| Number | 25 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2017 | Beira Baixa | ||
| 2017–2018 | Águias Vermelhas | ||
| 2020–2022 | Seven Stars | ||
| 2022–2023 | Torreense | 3 | (0) |
| 2023–2025 | Amora | 39 | (18) |
| 2025– | Vitória de Guimarães | 2 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2018– | Cape Verde | 15 | (3) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19 February 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 26 February 2025 | |||
Irlanda Tavares Spínola Lopes (born 6 October 1996), commonly known as Irlanda Lopes and is nicknamed Irlas Messi, is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Campeonato Nacional II Divisão Feminino club Vitória de Guimarães and the Cape Verde national team.[2]
In July 2021, she represented the Praia-based club in the inaugural 2021 CAF Women's Champions League WAFU Zone A Qualifiers, scoring twice to secure the club's first and only points in the competition.[3]
On 2 September 2022, Lopes returned to Portugal and signed for Liga BPI side Torreense.[4][5]
In August 2023, Irlas joined Amora in the Campeonato Nacional II Divisão Feminino.[6] On 9 September 2023, she debuted for the club in a 6–0 win over Vitória. 21 days later she scored her first goal for the club against CF Benfica.[7]
In February 2025, Vitória de Guimarães announced the signing of Lopes to strengthen the squad for the second half of the promotion phase to the league.[8][9] On 8 February 2025, She made her debut for the club in a 3–0 win over CF Benfica. The following week, she made her first start and scored twice in a 6–0 victory over U.D. Leiria.[10]
International career
In November 2018, Lopes was called up to Cape Verde's first-ever women's national team for a friendly against Guinea-Bissau.[11] In February 2020, she was called up for the Crioulos' debut in the 2020 WAFU Zone A Women's Cup.[12] Her hat-trick on the final day of the group stage against Guinea, which included her first international goal, secured Cape Verde's spot in the semi-finals.[13]
