Pico Lopes has been making headlines as he represents Cape Verde in the World Cup, and the Dublin man’s wife, Leah, and their little boy have been behind him every step of the way.
While Pico is soaring high as the only Irish-born player at the tournament, the Shamrock Rovers captain and his glamorous wife live a refreshingly normal life at home.
Pico, whose real name is Roberto, often gushes over his wife on social media. So, what do we know about the Dublin secondary school teacher-turned World Cup WAG?
Life together
Pico and Leah appear to have been dating for almost a decade, as the footballer, whose father is from Cape Verde, first shared a snap with his longtime love on social media eight years ago.
The couple appeared to be in a well-established relationship even then, as they attended Pico’s older brother’s wedding together. He dubbed Leah his ‘beautiful other half’ at the time.
Tying the knot
Pico, who is from Crumlin, married Leah, who is from Dolphin’s Barn, in the summer of 2025.
The couple tied the knot at Quinta do Torneiro Eventos villa in Lisbon, Portugal, surrounded by their nearest and dearest.
Leah looked elegant in an off-the-shoulder, sequined bridal gown on the day. She wore her hair half up, with a long veil trailing behind her.
Pico popped the question two years before, during a romantic getaway to Monart Spa in Wexford. He shared a clip of Leah excitedly dancing at the time, joking: ‘She said go on then….’
Welcoming their son
The couple has one child, their eight-month-old son, whom they named Diego. They welcomed him in October 2025, with Leah sharing a sweet black-and-white snap of their family on social media.
‘Our baby blue shark. Diego Lopes O’ Shaughnessy, born 17th Oct 25,’ she penned. The couple also shared adorable snaps of their little man’s first Christmas.
Leah’s job
Leah certainly hasn’t taken the traditional WAG route! She works as a secondary school teacher at Tallaght Community School.
The mum-of-one is a Religion, History, and C.S.P.E teacher in the mixed school. She wears many hats at work, as she also coordinates the Leaving Certificate Applied programme in TCS and is passionate about the role of LCA and the power of education.
Leah previously joined forces with her colleague, Melanie Martin, and some of their students, in order to publish a book. All proceeds from the book, titled Resilience and Me, went to charities WALK and Jigsaw.
Pico gushed over his then-girlfriend at the time, saying he was ‘so proud’ of her. He shared a snap of Leah posing with the book at the time, writing: ‘So proud of @leah_o_shaughnessy for publishing the book, Resilience and Me.’
‘An incredible amount of work and time went into gathering the stories of resilience from the students of the Tallaght Community School to have them in their very own book is absolutely amazing,’ he penned.
‘Resilience and Me is available online from @theexamcraftgroup, with all proceeds going to Walk and Jigsaw. Congratulations again, bubs. Fantastic achievement,’ he ended the sweet post.
At the World Cup
Cape Verde has made history at the World Cup, finishing runners-up in Group H to reach the knockout stage.
Leah has been cheering her man on all the way, even following the team to their games in a camper van with her baby son and other family members.
Chatting with Balls.ie, Leah said being at the World Cup is pretty surreal and that she’s so proud of her husband.
She said: ‘I think I’m still in shock, really. I’ve always been really proud of him, you know, because I see every day how hard he works and how committed he is.
‘But to see him now out there on the biggest world stage, it’s really hard to describe. I can’t get over it…
‘I think in a few months’ time, it’ll probably hit me. Right now, we’re in it, and we’re in the buzz of it all, and it’s all very exciting.’
