Mário Zagallo

The only man to win the World Cup as a player, manager, and assistant manager.

Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo (9 August 1931 – 5 January 2024) was a Brazilian footballer, coordinator, and manager who played as a forward. He holds the overall record for FIFA World Cup titles with four, and also holds the record for appearing in five World Cup finals. He became the first person to win the World Cup both as a player and as a manager, lifting the trophy in 1958 and 1962 as a player and in 1970 as manager. He added a fourth title as assistant manager in 1994. He also managed Brazil to a fourth-place finish in 1974 and a runner-up finish in 1998, and served as a technical assistant in 2006. Zagallo was the first of three men—along with Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer and France’s Didier Deschamps—to win the World Cup as both player and manager, and he remains the only one to have done each more than once.

Quick Facts

Full name: Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo
Birthplace: Atalaia, Alagoas, Brazil
Born: 9 August 1931
Died: 5 January 2024
Place of death: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height: 1.67 m / 5 ft 6 in
Position: Inside forward, left winger
Total caps: 214

Facts from the source article.

Background

Zagallo was born in Atalaia, Alagoas, on 9 August 1931, of Lebanese descent from Zahlé. He moved to Rio de Janeiro with his family when he was eight months old. He served in the Brazilian Army and was deployed at the Maracanã Stadium when Uruguay defeated Brazil in the 1950 World Cup decisive match. He started his playing career at América's youth sector, joined Flamengo in 1950, and helped the club win three consecutive Campeonato Carioca titles between 1953 and 1955.

In 1958, he joined Botafogo, playing alongside Garrincha, Nilton Santos and Didi, and helped the side win two Torneio Rio–São Paulo titles and two Campeonato Carioca titles, retiring in 1965. He won 33 caps for Brazil between 1958 and 1964, scoring five goals. In the 1958 World Cup, he was promoted to the starting XI after an injury to Pepe and scored in the final. He started all matches in the 1962 World Cup.

As a manager, he started at Botafogo in 1966, then led Brazil to the 1970 World Cup title, becoming the first person to win the World Cup as both player and manager, and the second youngest coach to win it. At the 1974 World Cup, Brazil lost 2-0 to the Netherlands in the semifinal and then lost to Poland in the third-place playoff. In 1989, he led the United Arab Emirates to qualification for the 1990 World Cup but left for Vasco da Gama before the tournament.

He received the FIFA Order of Merit in 1992. He was named the ninth greatest manager of all time by World Soccer Magazine in 2013. He died on 5 January 2024 at age 92, the last surviving Brazilian player from the 1958 World Cup final.