Sidny Lopes Cabral

Sidny Lopes Cabral's career has moved fast enough that his club history reads almost like a fixture list. Born in Rotterdam, he came through the youth ranks at Spartaan'20, Feyenoord and FC Twente before a spell at Helsingborgs IF took him away from the Netherlands entirely, without ever making a senior appearance for any of them. His professional career only really started at Rot-Weiß Erfurt, where 52 appearances in the Regionalliga Nordost built the platform for a move to Viktoria Köln in the 3. Liga.

The turning point came at Estrela da Amadora. Sixteen appearances into the 2025–2026 season, with five goals and six assists from defence, he had done enough to force a €6 million move to Benfica in December, with add-ons that could take the fee to €8.5 million. He was in the side for his debut only days later, setting up Vangelis Pavlidis in a 3–1 win over Estoril. His time at Benfica proved short: by June he had moved on again, this time to Trabzonspor for a reported €10 million.

It is with Cape Verde, though, that Lopes Cabral has made his name. Part of the country's first-ever World Cup squad, he scored a curling strike against Argentina in the Round of 32 that equalised in extra time, even as Cape Verde went on to lose 3–2. The goal was voted Goal of the Tournament. By July 2026 he had earned 14 caps and four goals for the national side, an international record that has grown quickly alongside his club moves.