On Wednesday, Cape Verde face Ghana in Casablanca in their first ever match at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, completing another remarkable milestone for the country, whose population barely exceeds half a million.
Cape Verde's footballing summer already has a fairytale quality. Now, less than a month after the men's team came within 10 minutes of taking Argentina to a penalty shootout in their FIFA World Cup Last 32 meeting in Miami, the archipelago's women are preparing to write a chapter of their own.
This northern hemisphere summer of firsts comes amidst an extraordinary period for Cape Verde football's pioneers.
The men qualified for the World Cup for the first time, and departed without losing a match in 90 minutes despite playing both the 2022 and 2026 champions.
They held eventual champions Spain 0-0 in their opening game, drew against former champions Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia, before pushing Lionel Messi's Argentina all the way to extra time.
Twice they came from behind against the defending champions before eventually succumbing 3-2 after 120 minutes.
For Tatiana Carvalho, vice-president of the Cape Verde Football Federation responsible for women's football, those exploits have proved both the inspiration for what can be achieved by one of international football's smallest nations... and a blueprint for how to do it again.
"The achievements of the men's national team are a great source of motivation and inspiration for us," she told ESPN, "as they reflect the determination, unity and strength of the Cape Verdean people.
"We are building our own path based on those same principles, determined to honour our flag, our Federation, and the entire Cape Verdean people."
The journey is still in its infancy, with the women's team only playing their first international as recently as 2018, with two of the subsequent years essentially ruled out due to COVID.
Qualification for the WAFCON represents a serious landmark on this pathway, but there were no doubts Cape Verde deserved their spot among the continent's finest after an astonishing come-from-behind victory against Mali in qualifying.
After losing the first leg of their qualifying double-header 1-0 in Praia in October, Cape Verde travelled to Bamako as firm outsiders to overturn the deficit against far more experienced opponents.
Instead, they produced the greatest result in the young national team's history.
Larissa Melo and Ivania Moreira scored inside the first 17 minutes to turn the tie in Cape Verde's favour, Eleia Vieira added another seven minutes later as Mali were left stunned, and despite an attempted second-half comeback through Oumou Kone's double, Evy Pereira's late strike for the visitors secured their passage to the tournament.
Carvalho believes that qualification reflects the structural changes taking place beneath the surface of Cape Verde women's football.
"Several factors have contributed to this growth," she continued. "More Cape Verdean players are now joining clubs abroad, which has helped raise their performance levels and bring greater experience to the national team.
"The arrival of new players from the diaspora has also increased competition within the squad and strengthened the team.
"Another important factor is the Cape Verdean spirit; we are a people who fight, persevere and never give up.
"This progress is also the result of continuous work and making the best possible use of the resources available to us."
It's this same combination -- celebrated by men's head coach Bubista during the summer in North America -- that has underpinned the men's team's rise to prominence in continental, and then global, football, with Cape Verde's demographics long ensuring that the island's diaspora overseas has been central to any potential success.
The Blue Sharks' growth has largely been tied to the team's drawing on players established in European football systems -- specifically Portugal -- with the women increasingly tapping into the same resource.
Fourteen of the current WAFCON team play in Portugal, with a further two elsewhere in Europe. Only five of the team play in Cape Verdean domestic football - only Algeria, Nigeria, Mali and Ghana have fewer home-based players.
Their arrival at the WAFCON also has significance beyond the immediate results of Silveria Nedio's team.
For the first time, young Cape Verdean girls growing up wanting to play football - on the islands and beyond - have a senior women's national team competing on the continent's biggest stage.
"This national team is also a symbol of commitment and inspiration for many Cape Verdean girls and young women," Carvalho continued.
"We feel those who play football today now have female role models who inspire them to keep playing, aside to reach the national team and represent their country - just as boys do with the men's national team."
However, the tiny archipelago have already been served a reminder of the scale of the challenge awaiting them in Morocco, as they were smashed 5-0 by the hosts in a pre-tournament friendly in Casablanca.
Carvalho insists the mood in the camp hasn't been impacted by their demanding assignment against Morocco, with Cape Verde's squad determined to enjoy this historic occasion.
"The group is doing very well and the atmosphere in camp is excellent," she added.
"Everyone is highly motivated and excited about making Cape Verde's historic debut at the WAFCON. There's a lot of positive energy, unity and determination to represent the country in the best possible way."
Cape Verde, like the men's team at the World Cup, are committed to truly turning up at a major tournament and competing, rather than just making up the numbers.
And while qualification to the World Cup in Brazil next year -- emulating their male counterparts -- would represent a massive overachievement at their first ever tournament, Carvalho has made no secret of her ambition to match the men's achievement in reaching a first ever Mundial.
"As debutants, we feel, first and foremost, an immense sense of pride and a great responsibility to represent Cape Verde in a competition of the stature of the WAFCON," she concluded.
"Every team enters the competition with the ambition of going as far as possible. We also believe that we can achieve the goal of qualifying for the World Cup, just like all of the other participating teams.
"We're aware of the challenges ahead, but we are equally determined to give our very best and make Cape Verde proud of us."
A month ago, Cape Verde holding Spain to a 0-0 draw or taking Argentina to extra time would have sounded improbable, but the archipelago have already learned this summer how quickly the improbable can become reality.