‘I’ve lost my peace and tranquillity’: Vozinha on the price of World Cup fame
Six months ago, Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha was largely unknown outside football circles. His life revolved around the small Portuguese city of Chaves, where he played in the country’s second tier. Then came the FIFA World Cup 2026, and everything changed.
The 40-year-old goalkeeper became one of the tournament’s unexpected stars after Cape Verde’s historic campaign. In their opening match against eventual world champions Spain, Vozinha made seven saves to preserve a 0-0 draw. Cape Verde later drew with Uruguay before reaching the knockout stage, where they took eventual finalists Argentina into extra time.
His performances brought worldwide attention --and an astonishing rise on social media. Before the match against Spain, Vozinha had 56,000 Instagram followers. Within hours, the number had passed one million, eventually multiplying by 250 to reach 14 million. Today, after further growth, he has more than 28 million followers.
Yet the sudden fame has come at a price.
“I’ve lost my peace and tranquillity,” Vozinha told The Observer. “I no longer have any privacy, or at least much less than I used to. Now I go out, I go to a restaurant, and there’s always someone who wants to take a photo with me or asks me for an autograph. Or, worse, someone is filming me. That’s what has changed most in my life, and I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it.”
Vozinha remembers discovering his new-found fame just minutes after the Spain game. A member of Cape Verde’s catering staff approached him and told him he had “a billion followers”--a figure that initially made no sense to him.
“I had no idea what he was talking about; I thought he was joking, but he insisted,” he recalled. “Later, I went to do some interviews in the mixed zone, and a CazeTV journalist asked me if I knew what was happening. She showed me her phone and that was when I saw that I had more than a million followers.”
The attention became so overwhelming that Vozinha and the Cape Verdean Football Federation brought back his former manager to help handle the sudden media and commercial interest. Vozinha also switched off his Instagram notifications so he would not constantly check his follower count.
“A lot of people want to be famous and have a public profile, but they only see the positive side of that reality,” he said. “To be honest, if I were offered the life I have today or the life I had before, I’d choose the one I had before.”
His family has also felt the impact. Supporters now reportedly visit his mother’s home in Cape Verde every day, asking for photographs or wanting to speak with her, while his more reserved father has chosen to keep his distance.
“I’m not there, so I can’t help them,” Vozinha said. “They have to learn to live with the situation and set boundaries.”
There have been benefits. Vozinha believes Cape Verde has gained greater international recognition and hopes the team’s success can help the country.
“It’s nice to feel like a kind of ambassador, but I want to make it clear that what we achieved was a collective effort,” he said. “We made history and the best news would be if we could harness that momentum to develop our country and improve the living conditions of our people.”
After the World Cup, Vozinha signed for Chilean giants Colo-Colo, choosing them after they showed the strongest interest. He said there was some contact with Saudi Arabia, while he received no offers from the United States.
His international career continues despite initially considering retirement. He is now preparing for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
Vozinha has also been nominated for the Lev Yashin Award and was included among the 10 nominees for the world’s best goalkeeper at the 2026 Ballon d’Or.
“I never imagined it could happen,” he said. “It was unthinkable, but I’m grateful to those who thought of me. Just being on that list is already a great honour.”
Yet amid the awards, millions of followers and international recognition, Vozinha’s greatest wish remains surprisingly simple: to regain some of the peace and privacy he had before the world knew his name.
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