Their 2026 World Cup
Match by match
Hélio Varela played 2 matches for Cape Verde, always off the bench. His only goal came in the group stage (Group H) against Uruguay.
| Round | Match | His game |
|---|---|---|
| Group H | vs Uruguay 2-2 | Came on in the 58′ · 1 goal |
| Round of 32 | vs Argentina 2-3 | Came on in the 80′ |
Biography
Hélio Sandro Oliveira Alves Varela (Portuguese: [ˈɛ.li.u ˈsɐ̃.dɾu o.li.ˈvej.ɾɐ ˈal.vɨʒ vɐ.ˈɾɛ.lɐ]; born 3 May 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv. Born in Portugal, Varela plays for the Cape Verde national team.
Club career Varela is a youth product of Monte Caparica, Charneca Caparica, Vitória Setúbal and Cova da Piedade. He began his senior career with Amora in 2020, before joining Sintrense for the 2021–22 Liga 3 season. He moved to the reserves of Portimonense in the summer of 2022. He made his professional debut with them in a 0–0 (5–4) Taça da Liga penalty shootout loss to Leixões on 30 July 2023. He scored his first league goal in a 1–1 Primeira Liga tie with Arouca on 26 August 2023. On 16 August 2024, Varela joined Gent. On 30 October, Varela made his debut with Gent in the Croky Cup against Union Rochefortoise, he immediately scored 2 goals.
International career Born in Portugal, Varela is of Cape Verdean descent. He was called up to the Cape Verde national team for a set of friendlies in October 2023.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) · text adapted from the article.
Tournament data from API-Football. See more rankings on the World Cup data hub.
Photo: Petsbikes · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)