Mário Zagallo

• 1. Introduction

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  Mário Zagallo was standing on the pitch at the Maracanã Stadium as a young soldier in 1950, watching Uruguay defeat Brazil in one of the most painful moments in his country's football history. He did not play that day. He was there in uniform, deployed by the Brazilian Army. Few people in that crowd could have imagined that the slight young man in military dress would go on to win four FIFA World Cup titles and appear in five World Cup finals, a record no one else in history has matched.

  How does a diminutive left winger from Atalaia in the state of Alagoas become the first person ever to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager? What did it take to coach Brazil to glory in 1970, and what happened when the team fell short in 1974 and 1998? And what connected Zagallo, Germany's Franz Beckenbauer, and France's Didier Deschamps across three different generations of football?

• 2. From Atalaia to the Maracanã

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  Zagallo was born on the 9th of August 1931 in Atalaia, a small city in the northeastern state of Alagoas. His family relocated to Rio de Janeiro when he was just eight months old, and it was in that city that he would spend almost his entire life.

  His youth career began in the ranks of América before he joined Flamengo in 1950, the same year he stood guard at the Maracanã. At Flamengo, he developed rapidly. Between 1953 and 1955, he helped the club win three consecutive Rio de Janeiro State Championships, establishing himself as a reliable and combative left winger.

  In 1958, he moved to Botafogo, where he found himself surrounded by some of the best players in Brazil. Garrincha, Nilton Santos, and Didi were his teammates, and together they formed part of the backbone of the Brazilian national side. Zagallo went on to help Botafogo win titles in both the Torneio Rio-São Paulo and the Campeonato Carioca during his time at the club, staying until he retired in 1965.

• 3. The Little Ant Who Won the World

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  Zagallo was not an imposing figure physically. He was a small man, and his nickname among fans and teammates, Formiguinha, meant "Little Ant" in Portuguese. But his energy and defensive discipline set him apart from other attacking players of his era.

  Manager Vicente Feola selected Zagallo for Brazil's 1958 FIFA World Cup squad in Sweden. When a player named Pepe suffered an injury, Zagallo was promoted into the starting eleven. He made the most of it: he scored a goal in the final as Brazil claimed their first ever world title.

  Four years later in Chile, Zagallo was a fixture. He started every one of Brazil's matches at the 1962 FIFA World Cup as the Seleção retained the trophy. In total, Zagallo earned 33 caps for Brazil between 1958 and 1964, scoring five goals across his international career.

  His coaches and peers recognized two qualities above all: his technical ability on the ball, and his willingness to track back and defend, unusual traits in a forward of his generation. He could play as a left winger, as a main striker, or as an inside forward, giving Brazil tactical flexibility at a time when most forwards were expected only to attack.

• 4. The Professor Takes the Bench

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  Zagallo began his managerial career in 1966 at Botafogo, the club where he had finished playing. His players would come to call him The Professor, a name earned through his tactical attention to detail and his commanding presence on the touchline. A second nickname, Velho Lobo, meaning Old Wolf, played on his surname; Lobo means wolf in Portuguese.

  His appointment to manage the Brazilian national team came shortly before the start of the 1970 FIFA World Cup, leaving him very little preparation time. He settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation and was among the first coaches of his era to place serious emphasis on the physical conditioning of his players before a major tournament. The result was a team widely regarded as one of the finest in World Cup history. Brazil won the tournament, and Zagallo became the first person to win the World Cup as both a player and as a manager. At 38 years old, he was also the second youngest coach to win the competition, behind only Alberto Suppici.

  He led Botafogo to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A in 1968 and won the Rio de Janeiro State Championship with both Botafogo in 1967 and 1968, and with Fluminense in 1971, demonstrating that his 1970 triumph was no accident.

• 5. The Weight of 1974

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  By the time the 1974 FIFA World Cup arrived in West Germany, Zagallo faced a squad significantly weakened from the 1970 champions. Pelé had retired from international football four years earlier. Tostão and Carlos Alberto Torres were sidelined by injuries. Only two players who had started the 1970 final remained in the squad.

  The Copa América had also been suspended between 1967 and 1975, meaning Brazil had little competitive match experience heading into the tournament. Zagallo responded to this context in an unexpected way: recalling how Brazil had been knocked out by physically aggressive European sides in 1954 and 1966, he chose to match that aggression. The approach produced mixed results.

  Brazil barely advanced from the first group stage, edging Scotland by a single goal in goal difference. In the second stage, a 2-0 defeat to the Netherlands ended their title hopes; Luís Pereira was sent off during that match for a foul on Johan Neeskens. Poland then beat Brazil in the third-place playoff, leaving the Seleção in fourth place. It was a disappointing result, but the squad's depleted state offered context for the finish.

• 6. Ronaldo, France, and a Final Gone Wrong

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  Between the 1974 and 1998 tournaments, Zagallo built a remarkable secondary career. In 1989, he took charge of the United Arab Emirates national team for their qualification campaign for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The UAE were considered amateurs on the world stage; Zagallo led them to an unexpected first-ever qualification for the tournament. He then left the post for Vasco da Gama just days before the competition began.

  He returned to the Brazilian national setup as a coordinator and assistant manager, and in that capacity shared in Brazil's 1994 FIFA World Cup victory. He also guided Brazil to the Copa América title and the FIFA Confederations Cup, both in 1997, the year he was named IFFHS World's Best National Coach.

  For the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, Zagallo was again head coach. Brazil reached the final. Then, hours before the match against the host nation, Ronaldo suffered a sudden injury. The details of what happened remained disputed, but the result was clear: Brazil lost to France 3-0. The defeat closed Zagallo's final chapter as Brazil's main manager, though he remained a technical assistant with the national team as late as 2006.

• 7. A Record That Stands Alone

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  Franz Beckenbauer of Germany and Didier Deschamps of France are the only two other men to have won the World Cup as both a player and as a manager. Zagallo was first, and he was also the only one of the three to have won the competition more than once in each role; his 1958 and 1962 medals as a player, combined with his 1970 title as manager, left him with four World Cup titles in total, a record across all categories of participation.

  In 1992, FIFA recognized his contribution to the sport with the FIFA Order of Merit, its highest individual honor. World Soccer Magazine ranked him the ninth greatest manager of all time in 2013, and FourFourTwo placed him twenty-seventh in 2020.

  Zagallo married Alcina de Castro on the 13th of January 1955 at the Church of Capuchins in Rio de Janeiro. They were together until her death on the 5th of November 2012. He was a practicing Catholic and was of Lebanese descent. He was also, for most of his career, known publicly as Zagalo, spelled without the double-l, until he clarified in the 1990s that the spelling on his birth certificate was Zagallo.

  He died on the 5th of January 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, following multiple organ failure. He was 92. His death left Amarildo as the last surviving Brazilian player from the 1962 World Cup final squad.