Mario Zagallo: Brazil's four-time World Cup winner

In football’s vast and colourful history, there are certain figures without whom the story of the FIFA World Cup feels incomplete. Mario Jorge Lobo Zagallo was one of them.

The Brazilian legend achieved something no one else in football history ever has -- winning the World Cup both as a player and as a coach. Even more remarkably, Zagallo remains the only man to have lifted football’s most coveted trophy four times: twice as a player, once as a head coach and once as an assistant coach.

It was a legacy that elevated him beyond greatness and into immortality.

Born in 1931 in Alagoas, Brazil, Zagallo grew up in Rio de Janeiro. Yet his World Cup journey began not with triumph, but heartbreak.

In 1950, as a young soldier stationed at the Maracana Stadium on security duty, Zagallo witnessed Brazil’s devastating defeat to Uruguay in the final -- a tragedy forever remembered as the “Maracanazo”. Few could have imagined then that the young man watching in despair would one day become one of Brazil’s greatest football saviours.

After joining Flamengo in 1950 and making his mark in domestic football, Zagallo earned his Brazil call-up ahead of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

That tournament is remembered not only for the rise of a teenage Pele, but also for Zagallo’s tactical intelligence. Operating as a left winger, he played a revolutionary role in transforming Brazil’s shape from a traditional 4-4-2 into a more fluid 4-3-3 system.

Long before modern football demanded defensive work from attackers, Zagallo was already dropping deep to help his backline -- a concept years ahead of its time.

In the final against Sweden, with Brazil trailing 1-0, Zagallo headed the ball off the line to prevent a certain goal. Brazil eventually won 5-2, with Zagallo himself scoring the team’s fourth goal.

Four years later in Chile, he remained one of the driving forces behind Brazil’s successful title defence. Zagallo scored in Brazil’s opening 2-0 win over Mexico, and after Pele suffered an injury early in the tournament, much of the attacking responsibility fell on Zagallo and Garrincha.

Brazil defeated Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the final to secure back-to-back World Cups.

After retiring with Botafogo in 1965, Zagallo quickly moved into coaching -- and his second act would become even more legendary.

In 1970, just 75 days before the World Cup in Mexico, Zagallo was appointed Brazil coach following the dismissal of Joao Saldanha. Despite the late appointment, he boldly reshaped the entire system and built what many still consider the greatest team in football history.

Under Zagallo, Brazil’s dazzling side featuring Pele, Jairzinho, Rivelino and Tostao swept through the tournament unbeaten.

The 1970 World Cup, the first broadcast in colour television, became synonymous with Brazil’s breathtaking “Jogo Bonito” -- the beautiful game.

Reflecting later in an interview with FIFA, Zagallo said: “I had already decided that if Brazil went to the World Cup with the old system, we would get nowhere. So I had to take risks.”

Zagallo later returned as Brazil’s head coach in the 1974 and 1998 World Cups. But perhaps his most important contribution after 1970 came in a different role.

At the 1994 World Cup in the United States, he served as assistant coach to Carlos Alberto Parreira. His experience and tactical guidance played a crucial role as Brazil, led by Romario and Bebeto, ended a 24-year wait for another World Cup crown.

Even in 2006, more than five decades after first becoming part of Brazil’s football story, Zagallo remained in the dugout as technical coordinator under Parreira during the World Cup in Germany. Though Brazil exited in the quarterfinals, his presence alongside stars like Ronaldo and Kaka brought calmness and authority to the squad.

Confident and charismatic throughout his life, Zagallo famously believed the number 13 was his lucky charm -- despite many considering it unlucky.

Once reflecting on his extraordinary life, he proudly declared: “I was born on the right day. I was born at a time when victory was always by my side.”

On January 5, 2024, Mario Zagallo passed away in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 92, leaving the football world in mourning.

Paying tribute, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said: “The history of the FIFA World Cup can never be fully written without Mario Zagallo.”

Today, Zagallo may be gone, but the footprints he left on football’s green canvas remain eternal.

Of Brazil’s five World Cup triumphs, he was directly involved in four. The tactical discipline and intelligence he introduced became foundations of the modern game itself.

And so, in the golden pages of Brazil’s football history, Mario Zagallo’s name will forever shine brightest.