Pico Lopes

Roberto Carlos Lopes (Portuguese: [ʀu.ˈbɛ.tu ˈkaɾ.luʒ ˈlɔpɨʃ]; born 17 June 1992), also known as Pico (Kabuverdianu: [ˈpi.ku]),^[2] is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Shamrock Rovers.^[2] Born in Ireland, he represents the Cape Verde national team.

Full name Roberto Carlos Lopes

Date of birth 17 June 1992 (age 34)

Place of birth Crumlin, Ireland

Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)^[1]

Quick facts Personal information, Full name ...

Pico Lopes
Personal information
Lopes in 2026
Full name	Roberto Carlos Lopes
Date of birth	(1992-06-17) 17 June 1992 (age 34)
Place of birth	Crumlin, Ireland
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)^[1]
Position	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Shamrock Rovers
Number	4
Youth career
	Lourdes Celtic
	Home Farm
	Belvedere
	Bohemians
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2016	Bohemians	140	(3)
2017–	Shamrock Rovers	269	(21)
International career^‡
2011	Republic of Ireland U19	1	(0)
2019–	Cape Verde	47	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11:14, 15 May 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 07:50, 22 June 2026 (UTC)

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Club career

Shamrock Rovers

In November 2016, Lopes joined Shamrock Rovers after leaving rivals Bohemians.^[3]

He became a regular starter for Shamrock Rovers in the 2017 season.^{[citation needed]}

In 2019, he scored his first European goal with a header against Apollon Limassol to make it 2–1. He won the FAI Cup in 2019 where Rovers defeated Dundalk F.C. on penalties.^{[citation needed]}

In 2020, he was a member of the Shamrock Rovers squad that won the League of Ireland title. He went on to win three more leagues in a row with Rovers.^{[citation needed]}

In 2024, he became captain of Rovers after Ronan Finn left the club. He captained them to the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League playoff round, the first time an Irish club had reached the knockout stage of a European tournament.^{[citation needed]}

In 2025 he won the double^{[clarification needed]} as captain, Rovers' first domestic double since 1987.^{[citation needed]}

International career

Lopes was born in Ireland to a Cape Verdean father and an Irish mother.^[4] He made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland's under-19 squad in 2011.^[5]

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.^[6] He made his international debut for Cape Verde in a 2–0 friendly win over Togo in 2019.^[7]

He was included in Cape Verde's squad for the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.^[8]^[9]

He was part of the Cape Verdean squad under manager Bubista in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, where the nation made an extraordinary run to the quarterfinals.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[10]^[11]

On 15 June 2026, Lopes made his World Cup debut at Cape Verde's opening group game against Spain.^[12]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 1 May 2026^[13]

More information Club, Season ...

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			FAI Cup		League of Ireland Cup		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bohemians	2010	LOI Premier Division	0	0	1	0	0	0	0^[a]	0	0^[b]	0	1	0
	2011		3	0	0	0	1	0	0^[c]	0	4^[d]	0	8	0
	2012		15	0	3	1	0	0	0^[c]	0	3^[e]	0	21	1
	2013		30	1	1	0	3	0	—		0^[f]	0	34	1
	2014		30	0	3	0	3	0	—		1^[f]	0	37	0
	2015		31	0	2	0	2	0	—		2^[f]	0	37	0
	2016		31	2	2	0	2	0	—		3^[f]	2	38	4
	Total		140	3	12	1	11	0	0	0	13	2	176	6
Shamrock Rovers	2017	LOI Premier Division	25	1	4	0	3	0	4^[c]	0	0^[f]	0	35	1
	2018		29	4	1	0	0	0	2^[c]	0	0^[f]	0	32	4
	2019		35	3	5	0	1	0	4^[c]	2	0	0	45	5
	2020		15	3	3	1	—		2^[c]	1	—		21	5
	2021		27	1	2	0	—		6^[g]	0	1^[h]	0	36	1
	2022		27	1	0	0	—		7^[i]	0	0^[h]	0	34	1
	2023		31	2	1	0	—		4^[j]	0	1^[f]	0	37	2
	2024		33	1	1	0	—		14^[k]	0	0^[h]	0	48	1
	2025		34	2	4	0	—		14^[l]	0	0^[f]	0	52	2
	2026		13	3	0	0	—		0	0	1^[h]	0	14	3
	Total		269	21	21	1	4	0	57	3	3	0	351	25
Career total			409	24	33	2	15	0	57	3	16	2	527	31