Curated playlist
FIFA World Cup–winning players
- Horst-Dieter HöttgesBorussia Mönchengladbach let defender Horst-Dieter Höttges go, and he won a Bundesliga title with Werder Bremen.
- Wolfgang OverathWolfgang Overath won World Cup medals of all three kinds and never played for a club besides 1. FC Köln.
- Lionel MessiLionel Messi's first Barcelona contract was written on a paper napkin. He was 13 at the time.
- Djalma SantosDjalma Santos sat out the 1958 World Cup until the final, then made the All-Star Team. Brazil beat Sweden 5-2.
- Didier DeschampsDidier Deschamps is one of only three men to win the World Cup as both player and manager.
- Ronaldo (Brazilian footballer)Hours before the 1998 World Cup final, Ronaldo suffered a convulsive fit. He was dropped, then reinstated.
- Jürgen GrabowskiJürgen Grabowski's cross set up a last-second equalizer in the 1970 World Cup semi-final. West Germany still lost 4-3.
- Philipp LahmPhilipp Lahm scored in the sixth minute of the 2006 World Cup's opening match. He was 22.
- Gerd MüllerGerd Müller scored 68 goals in 62 games for West Germany. He averaged more than one goal per game for eight years.
- Helmut RahnHelmut Rahn scored the winning goal in the 1954 World Cup final with his weaker left foot.
- Nicolás OtamendiNicolás Otamendi played every minute of Argentina's 2022 World Cup campaign. He also gave away France's opening penalty.
- Thierry HenryThierry Henry was thirteen years old in 1990 when a Monaco scout named Arnold Catalano went to watch him play. Henry's team won 6-0, and Henry scored every one of the six goals. Catalano did not ask for a trial. He asked the boy to join…
- Kylian MbappéKylian Mbappé's famous arms-folded celebration was invented by his little brother.
- Manuel NeuerManuel Neuer, the German goalkeeper born on the 27th of March 1986, completed 244 passes at the 2014 World Cup. That was more than Lionel Messi, who managed 242, and more than Thomas Müller, who managed 221. Wesley Sneijder also finished…
- Miroslav KloseMiroslav Klose arrived in West Germany at eight knowing only two words of German.
- Sepp MaierA car crash in July 1979 nearly killed goalkeeper Sepp Maier. Doctors first found only a few rib fractures.
- Thomas MüllerThomas Müller calls himself a Raumdeuter, a space interpreter. He lacks pace and dribbling, yet he beats defenders.
- RonaldinhoRonaldinho scored his first La Liga goal for Barcelona at 1.30 in the morning on the 3rd of September 2003. The match against Sevilla had kicked off at five minutes past midnight. He took a pass from his own goalkeeper inside his own half,…
- Xabi AlonsoXabi Alonso stood over a penalty in a Champions League final in Istanbul and watched Milan's Brazilian goalkeeper Dida save it. The ball came back out to him. Alonso fired the rebound into the roof of the net. Afterwards he said, "This is…
- Diego MaradonaDiego Maradona punched in one World Cup goal, then dribbled past five English players for another.
- Zinedine ZidaneZinedine Zidane scored two headers from corners in the 1998 World Cup Final. France beat Brazil 3-0 in Paris.
- Paolo RossiPaolo Rossi won the 1982 World Cup after a two-year ban for a betting scandal. The press had written him off.
- Emiliano MartínezEmiliano Martínez tossed the ball away before a World Cup final shootout. He made France's Tchouaméni walk to fetch it.
- PeléAt 17, Pelé passed out on the field after scoring twice in the 1958 World Cup final. His teammate Garrincha revived him.
- Franco BaresiInter Milan turned Franco Baresi away and signed his older brother instead. He went to AC Milan and became a legend.
- GarrinchaA doctor certified Garrincha as crippled, yet he won two World Cups. His legs curved in opposite directions.
- Mário ZagalloMário Zagallo was the first person to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager. He led Brazil to the 1970 title.
- RomárioRomário told reporters he would finish Uruguay, then scored both goals in a 2-0 win.
- Jürgen KlinsmannJürgen Klinsmann scored sixteen goals in one match at age eight. He later lifted a World Cup with West Germany.
- Lukas PodolskiLukas Podolski bought control of Gornik Zabrze, the club he had always supported. He retired the next day.
- Franz BeckenbauerFranz Beckenbauer won the World Cup as a captain, then again as a manager.
- Gianluigi BuffonGianluigi Buffon reached three Champions League finals and lost all three. The Italian goalkeeper never won the trophy.
- Iker CasillasAs a child, goalkeeper Iker Casillas forgot to post his father's winning pool entry.
- Lothar MatthäusIn the 1986 World Cup final, Lothar Matthäus was assigned to mark Diego Maradona personally.
- Antonio CabriniAntonio Cabrini missed a penalty in a World Cup final and still won. Italy beat West Germany in 1982.
- Enzo FernándezEnzo Fernández scored for Argentina at the World Cup, then put the ball in his own net.
- Fabien BarthezGoalkeeper Fabien Barthez once refused to defend a penalty until an official forced him back into goal.
- Mario KempesMario Kempes scored the 105th-minute winner in the 1978 World Cup final against the Netherlands.
- Paul PogbaManchester United paid a then-record €105 million for footballer Paul Pogba in 2016.
- VaváVavá scored in two World Cup finals in a row, and no one else did it for sixty years.
- Antoine GriezmannAntoine Griezmann was born on the 21st of March 1991 in Mâcon, a commune in the department of Saône-et-Loire. As a child he supported Lyon, and he went on several trials hoping to join one of its youth academies. Lyon turned him away. So…