A country of roughly 600,000 people, smaller than the population of Memphis, Tennessee, just went unbeaten in a World Cup group that included Spain. Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks have become the tournament’s undeniable Cinderella story, and crypto scammers noticed before most fans did.

Unauthorized tokens bearing Cape Verde’s name and World Cup branding are already trading on Solana platforms, targeting the exact kind of emotionally charged, FOMO-driven retail interest that thrives when underdogs capture the world’s imagination. The Cape Verde national team has zero official blockchain partnerships. Every token claiming otherwise is, to put it plainly, a lie.

The run that nobody predicted

Cape Verde opened their…