Won 4 World Cups with Brazil: Who is Mario Zagallo?

Mario Zagallo, who won 4 World Cups as a player, coach, and coordinator with the Brazilian National Team, passed away at the age of 92.

Zagallo, the first person to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach, was the last surviving member of the team that played in the final match that won Brazil the 1958 World Cup.

Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo (9 August 1931 – 5 January 2024) was a Brazilian professional football player, coordinator and manager, who played as a forward. Zagallo was a diminutive left winger with a small physique, who was known for his technical skills and his high defensive work-rate, as well as his ability to make attacking runs from deeper areas of the pitch.

ZAGALLO'S CAREER

Zagallo, who played on the wing for the Brazilian National Team, which won the World Cup consecutively in Sweden in 1958 and Chile in 1962, started in the first 11 in both finals.

Zagallo led the team, which is considered one of the best Brazilian National Teams of all time, including Pele, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto, to the championship in Mexico in 1970 as a coach.

Zagallo last served as the coordinator of coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's team in Brazil, which won the championship in the USA in 1994.

Following Pele's death, Zagallo was the last surviving member of the team that won the 1958 World Cup for Brazil.

Zagallo, who wore the national team jersey 33 times, spent his entire football career in Flamengo and Botafogo.

"His legacy cannot be summarized in numbers"

Following the death of Zagallo, nicknamed "Professor" and "Old Wolf", FIFA President Gianni Infantino also published a condolence message.