Mario Zagallo, Brazilian football legend, dies at the age of 92

The former Seleçao player, quadruple world champion as a player and then as a coach, had recently had several health problems.

He was a legend of Brazilian football. Mario Zagallo, the only four-time world champion as a player and then as a coach, died at the age of 92 on Friday January 5, according to his official Instagram account.

“It is with great sadness that we inform you of the death of our eternal four-time world champion Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo”we can read in the brief statement. “A devoted father, a loving grandfather, a caring father-in-law, a loyal friend, a successful professional and a great human being. A great idol. A patriot who leaves us a legacy of great achievements”adds the press release.

Mario Zagallo was hospitalized in August in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) for a urinary infection. The former Seleçao player had recently had other health problems. After Pelé’s death in December 2022, he was hospitalized for almost two weeks with a respiratory infection.

Present during Brazil’s first four world titles

As a left winger, Zagallo had been part of the Brazilian team that won the World Cups in 1958 and 1962, with King Pelé. He had also been coach of Brazil when it won the supreme title in 1970, assistant coach during the Seleçao’s triumph in 1994 and coach in 1998 when Brazil lost the final to France.

“I felt the greatest consideration for Mario Zagallo, reacted Didier Deschamps in a press release. He was close to the quintuple on July 12, 1998. Of this France – Brazil which will remain forever engraved in my mind and in that of many French people, I also remember its elegance at the end of the final. We had one thing in common, the unconditional love of our national team.”

The president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Ednaldo Rodrigues, declared an official seven-day mourning for his death.