The President of the Republic of Cabo Verde, José Maria Neves, has visited Gianni Infantino at the FIFA office in Paris where they discussed the outstanding progress made by football on the island nation in recent years. President Neves, accompanied by the vice-president of the Cabo Verdean Football Association (FCF) Fernando Soares Firmino, also thanked Gianni Infantino for FIFA's support in developing football. The men’s national team, the Blue Sharks, had never qualified for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations before their debut in 2013, but have now made four appearances in the last six tournaments, twice reaching the quarter-finals including at this year’s edition in Côte d’Ivoire.

“I congratulated President Neves on the remarkable progress that has been made by Cabo Verdean football in recent years and we took the opportunity to also talk about the role that football can play in education and society,” said Mr Infantino. “Cabo Verde has a great passion for football and huge potential, as I saw during my visit there a few years ago. The country has done great work in using FIFA Forward funds to modernise its infrastructure and make football more accessible to girls and boys, and I am sure we will see more talented players emerging over the next few years. “I further thanked President Neves for his government's collaboration and told him that he could continue counting on FIFA's support in the future.”

The FCF has used FIFA Forward funds to refurbish the Adérito Sena Stadium on the island of São Vicente to host FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers, while new artificial turf pitches were also installed in the Santa Cruz district of Santiago island, and the FCF headquarters have been refurbished.