Kelvin Pires
Squad number 25 · SJK
Their 2026 World Cup
Kelvin Pires travelled to the 2026 World Cup with Cape Verde, wearing number 25, without ever getting on the pitch. His side played 4 matches (3 draws and 1 defeat) and bowed out in the round of 32, beaten by Argentina 3-2.
Defence went to Diney Borges (4 matches, 390′) and Pico (4 matches, 390′).
Another 3 players in the Cape Verde squad ended up the same way, without a single minute. The full run is on the Cape Verde team page.
Biography
Kelvin Spencer Pires (Portuguese: [ˈkɛl.vin ˈspɛ̃.sɛɾ ˈpi.ɾɨʃ]; born 5 June 2000), also known as Djack (Kabuverdianu: [ʤak]) is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Veikkausliiga club SJK and the Cape Verde national team.
Club career Pires made his Fortuna Liga debut for AS Trenčín against FC Spartak Trnava on 6 March 2021. On 6 February 2024, Pires was loaned out to Finnish Veikkausliiga club SJK Seinäjoki for the 2024 season. On 14 November 2024, Pires signed a permanent contract with SJK, on a two-year deal with a two-year option, for an undisclosed fee.
International career Pires made his debut with the Cape Verde national team in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification home fixture with Nigeria on 4 September 2021. He was featured in the starting-XI and completed the entirety of the match. Cape Verde lost 1–2. On 18 May 2026, he was called up by Cape Verde's head coach Bubista for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Club As of 2 November 2024.
Scores and results list Cape Verde's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pires goal.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) · text adapted from the article.
See all the tournament stats on the World Cup data hub.