Kasper Schemeischel: Cape Verde's underdog triumph recalls 2016 Leicester story
As Cape Verde progressed to the round of 32 at the World Cup, Kasper Schemeischel, who had experience with Leicester City in 2016, recalled the culture and passion seen in this young team.
Underdogs at the 2026 World Cup, Cape Verde have advanced to the Round of 32 with their persistence, where they face defending champions Argentina. Reminiscing about Leicester City's 2016 win on the Fox Sports program "World Cup Now," former soccer goalkeeper Kasper Schemeischel compared it to his experience of the Cape Verde four impressing.
"Plays hard. Plays for the joy of playing. I like that, especially in football, it's 11 versus 11 — you never know what's going to happen that day," Schemeischel said. He specifically mentioned 'culture' as a factor that plays a big role in the underdog team's success. "Culture is hard to build, but it's easy to screw up — one bad decision, one hurt person can bring it all down," Schemeischel added.
Schemeischel also spoke about his Leicester career: He was named Leicester City's Player of the Season in 2017 and 2021 and was named Denmark's Player of the Year three times. With odds of 5,000-1 at the start of the 2016 season, Leicester's journey was a fairytale for the world.
Cape Verde's 0-0 draw with Spain in their opening group match brought them into the limelight; Goalkeeper Wojinha recorded seven saves in that match. Cape Verde have been in the spotlight ever since their names were introduced on the world stage on June 15; Wojinha, in particular, has also gained a significant following through social media — he reached over 14 million followers on Instagram after the group's stage performance.
Cape Verde made history for the country by reaching the Round of 32 as the fourth least populous country in the tournament. Schemeischel thinks that to be one at Leicester, the connection with the club and the fans was the reason they achieved the feat: "Getting everyone on the same page is a really tough thing. For us, it's the connection with the club, the fans — when they all come together and work together, stories like this come out..."
Ultimately, Schemeischel says values aren't everything in football, but emotion, culture and passion are equally influential to success: "Not all things can be measured by rewards. You can win in different ways, see success in different ways. What we're seeing from Cape Verde… Underdog stories like this are the essence of sport."
Financially, the picture is also interesting: the team's total transfer value is around €54.4 million (approx. $63.1M), while Spain's Lamine Yamal is worth an estimated €200 million (approx. $232.1M). According to Schemeischel, the right culture and passion can be even more powerful.