Garrincha

YEAR	HOST	APPS	GOALS	RESULT
1958	Sweden	4	0	★ WINNER
1962	Chile	6	4	★ WINNER
1966	England	2	1	GROUP STAGE

⚡ DEFINING MOMENTS

▲ 1958 · Off the bench and into the side

Left out of Brazil's first two matches in Sweden, he was thrown in against the Soviet Union and tormented the full-back from the first whistle. He kept his place for the rest of the run and finished the tournament a world champion, twenty-four years old and barely known beyond Rio.

▲ 1962 · Carrying Brazil almost alone

With Pelé injured early, the 1962 tournament in Chile became Garrincha's. Two goals against England in the quarter-final, two more against the hosts in the semi, and a swerving menace down the right that no defender could read. Brazil retained the title and he took the Golden Boot and the player-of-the-tournament award.

▲ 1966 · A last flourish, then the fall

He bent in a trademark free-kick in the opening win over Bulgaria, but England's 1966 was unkind to Brazil. Garrincha's final cap came in the defeat to Hungary; the champions went out in the group stage, and he never played for Brazil again.

📜 CAREER TIMELINE

1953

Joins Botafogo and turns a club known for flair into a stage for his own; the right wing becomes his country.

1958

First World Cup: introduced after two matches, he helps Brazil win the trophy in Sweden.

1962

Carries Brazil to a second straight title in Chile with Pelé sidelined, winning the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball.

1966

Plays his final two World Cup matches in England; Brazil fall at the group stage and he wins his last cap.

1965

Leaves Botafogo after more than a decade, the knees that defined his gait beginning to give way.

1983

Dies in Rio de Janeiro aged 49; tens of thousands line the route to his burial in Magé.

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█ THE ALMANAC SPEAKS

PROF. INKSWORTH:

He was born with legs that pointed the wrong way and turned that crookedness into the most unanswerable dribble the game has known — a feint to the outside that every defender knew was coming and none could stop. The almanac records two titles and a 1962 in which, with Pelé hurt, he carried Brazil almost single-handed and swept every individual prize. Reportedly Brazil never lost a match in which both he and Pelé started; the joy he gave outran the tragedy that followed it.

In 1962 he became the rare player to take the World Cup, the Golden Boot and the player-of-the-tournament award in a single tournament.
He sat out Brazil's first two matches in 1958, then started every game to the final and left Sweden a champion.
His swerving right-wing free-kick in the 1966 opener was the last bright note before Brazil's group-stage exit and his final cap.

🌎 WORLD CUP RECORD

⚡ DEFINING MOMENTS

📜 CAREER TIMELINE