Every FIFA World Cup, on a stage that over one billion watch, new heroes emerge. This year, all eyes have been on Cabo Verde (commonly anglicized as Cape Verde). The team, hailing from the archipelago off the coast of West Africa, has grown to represent the ultimate underdog. It\u2019s not just the Blue Sharks\u2019 first time in the World Cup, but they made history as the smallest country by population and land size to advance to the tournament\u2019s knockout stage. Eyes aren\u2019t just on their performance\u2014but on their hair, too.<\/p>\n
Watch any Cabo Verde match, and you\u2019ll find players with their coils defined to helical perfection or their curls flat twisted into intricate geometric patterns. A small roster of team braiders is behind these looks, including Lorreta Rocha, whose vlogs about traveling with the team have gone viral on both TikTok and Instagram. She\u2019s been behind Blue Shark hairstyles from Garry Mendes Rodrigues to Sidny Lopes Cabral, Dailon Livramento, and Kevin Pina, who scored Cabo Verde\u2019s first-ever goal in the World Cup while playing Uruguay. Each of them brings their own flare to the matches, but they do share some preferred trends.<\/p>\n
![\"Sidny](\"https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/6a47714f4198db30f4d0c114\/2:3\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/GettyImages-2281738022.jpg\"\/)
<\/picture><\/span><\/div>\nSidny Lopes Cabral during the Cabo Verde match against Spain in Atlanta, Georgia.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n A closer view of Cabral’s braids.<\/p>\n <\/span>Edmilson Garcia<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe style that’s in right now is flat twists. For most of the players, that\u2019s what they want. For a lot of other players whose hair is not long enough for braids, they’ve asked me to work with their coils to make sure they’re hydrated and defined,\u201d Rocha tells Allure<\/em>. Rodrigues, she says, \u201cis the kind of player who needs his hair done every week since the games follow that schedule. Because of his texture, there are particular styles he likes doing to make sure they\u2019ll last. Where they’re playing, it\u2019s very humid, and there’s a lot of sweating.\u201d For Gilson Benchimol Tavares, it was helpful to restyle his locs in order to keep them secure and out of his face during the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile people may look at it as something that is trivial, to have a braider or to have your hair done before every game\u2026 it has a big impact on how the players feel, especially knowing that they’re on the biggest stage that you can be on as an athlete,\u201d Rocha says. It can be important for players to express themselves while in uniform and that these styles also carry cultural significance. \u201cAs an athlete myself, I know the [power of] being able to step on the field or a court and feel like, \u2018I look like I\u2019m the shit, so I\u2019m going to play like I\u2019m the shit.\u2019\u201d (There are whole studies showing this is real, by the way.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Cabo](\"https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/6a4772e0a9b8d880c5e184c1\/2:3\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/Sidny.jpg\"\/)
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