Garrincha scored 5 World Cup goals in twelve matches, over three tournaments: 1958, 1962 and 1966. All five came after his 28th birthday, and four of them came in 1962, in Chile, after Pelé was injured in Brazil’s second match. Brazil won the World Cup in 1958 and again in 1962. Garrincha lost one World Cup match, the last one he played.
World Cup record by tournament
| Tournament | Age | Played | Goals | Brazil’s finish | Scoring list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958, Sweden | 24 | 4 | 0 | Champions | — |
| 1962, Chile | 28 | 6 | 4 | Champions | Joint top scorer (six players on four) |
| 1966, England | 32 | 2 | 1 | First round | — |
| Total | 12 | 5 |
Every World Cup match
| Date | Stage | Opponent | Brazil’s result | Garrincha’s goals | Minute of each goal | Pelé played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 June 1958 | First round | Soviet Union | 2-0 | 0 | — | Yes |
| 19 June 1958 | Quarter-final | Wales | 1-0 | 0 | — | Yes |
| 24 June 1958 | Semi-final | France | 5-2 | 0 | — | Yes |
| 29 June 1958 | Final | Sweden | 5-2 | 0 | — | Yes |
| 30 May 1962 | First round | Mexico | 2-0 | 0 | — | Yes |
| 2 June 1962 | First round | Czechoslovakia | 0-0 | 0 | — | Yes, injured |
| 6 June 1962 | First round | Spain | 2-1 | 0 | — | No |
| 10 June 1962 | Quarter-final | England | 3-1 | 2 | 31, 59 | No |
| 13 June 1962 | Semi-final | Chile | 4-2 | 2 | 9, 32 | No |
| 17 June 1962 | Final | Czechoslovakia | 3-1 | 0 | — | No |
| 12 July 1966 | First round | Bulgaria | 2-0 | 1 | 63 | Yes |
| 15 July 1966 | First round | Hungary | 1-3 | 0 | — | No |
| Total | 5 |
1958: left out, then in the team for the last four matches
Garrincha was in Brazil’s squad for Sweden but did not play the first two matches, a 3-0 win over Austria and a 0-0 draw with England. FIFA and Wikipedia both link his omission to a warm-up match in Florence ten days before the tournament, when he rounded the Fiorentina goalkeeper, stopped on the goal line and beat a returning defender before scoring. The coach, Vicente Feola, did not like it.
After the England draw, the first goalless match in World Cup history according to FIFA, Feola brought in Garrincha and Pelé for the third group match, against the Soviet Union in Gothenburg on 15 June. It was the first World Cup match for both of them. Wikipedia’s account has Garrincha hitting the post inside the first minute. Brazil won 2-0 with two goals from Vavá.
He kept his place for the quarter-final against Wales (1-0), the semi-final against France (5-2) and the final against Sweden in Solna. Sweden scored first, through Nils Liedholm after four minutes. Garrincha then beat his marker on the right twice and crossed for both of Vavá’s goals, in the 9th and 32nd minutes, and Brazil won 5-2. He did not score in the tournament.
1962: the World Cup without Pelé
Brazil opened in Viña del Mar with a 2-0 win over Mexico, Zagallo and Pelé scoring. In the second match, against Czechoslovakia on 2 June, Pelé injured his thigh in the first half. Wikipedia says Brazil played part of the match with ten men; it ended 0-0. He did not play again in the tournament, and Amarildo took his place.
Brazil were losing 1-0 to Spain in the last group match until Amarildo scored twice, the winner four minutes from time. Garrincha had not scored in seven World Cup matches. That changed in the next two.
Quarter-final against England: two goals
Viña del Mar, 10 June. Garrincha headed in a corner in the 31st minute, his first World Cup goal. Gerry Hitchens equalised for England. In the second half Garrincha’s free kick was only half saved and Vavá put in the rebound for 2-1, then Garrincha made it 3-1 in the 59th minute with a curling shot from outside the area. This is also the match in which a stray dog ran onto the pitch and Jimmy Greaves caught it. FIFA’s account says Garrincha took the dog home.
Semi-final against Chile: two goals and a red card
Estadio Nacional, Santiago, 13 June, in front of a home crowd. Garrincha scored in the 9th minute with a left-foot shot, his weaker foot, and headed the second in the 32nd. Vavá scored twice after half-time and Brazil won 4-2. In the 83rd minute Garrincha was sent off for kicking a Chilean player; he said later that he had been kicked all game. The next day’s headline in the Chilean paper El Mercurio asked what planet he came from.
A red card did not bring an automatic ban at that tournament. A disciplinary hearing let him play the final, and FIFA and Wikipedia both record that Chile’s president, Jorge Alessandri, supported the appeal.
The final
Santiago, 17 June. Josef Masopust gave Czechoslovakia the lead after 15 minutes; Amarildo, Zito and Vavá scored for Brazil, who won 3-1 and kept the trophy. Garrincha did not score. Wikipedia says he played with a high fever.
Without Pelé, Brazil played four matches and scored 12 goals. Garrincha scored four and Vavá four, Amarildo three and Zito one.
1966: one goal and a first defeat
Garrincha was 32 and, according to Wikipedia, still troubled by a knee injury. In Brazil’s opening match, against Bulgaria at Goodison Park on 12 July, Pelé scored in the first half and Garrincha scored from a free kick in the 63rd minute, struck with the outside of his foot. Brazil won 2-0. It is the only World Cup match in which both of them scored.
Three days later, without Pelé, Brazil lost 3-1 to Hungary at the same ground. It was Garrincha’s last match for Brazil and the only World Cup match he lost. He did not play in the 3-1 defeat by Portugal that sent Brazil out in the first round.
Records and rankings
Garrincha’s twelve World Cup matches ended in ten wins, one draw and one defeat. He played seven of them alongside Pelé: Brazil won six and drew one, the 0-0 with Czechoslovakia in which Pelé was injured.
His four goals in 1962 put him level at the top of the scoring list with five other players: Vavá, Leonel Sánchez of Chile, Flórián Albert of Hungary, Valentin Ivanov of the Soviet Union and Dražan Jerković of Yugoslavia. The Golden Ball and the Golden Boot were first presented in 1982. Wikipedia’s lists of award winners go back further and name Garrincha as the best player of 1962; FIFA’s own review of the tournament calls him its inspiration.
Five goals are a small total next to the World Cup’s leading scorers, and the comparison with Pelé, who scored 12, says little about a right winger whose job was to beat his full-back and cross. The 1958 final shows it: two crosses, two goals for Vavá, none for him. Romário and Ronaldo Nazário, the goalscorers of Brazil’s 1994 and 2002 titles, were centre-forwards and are measured differently.
Garrincha, born Manuel Francisco dos Santos on 28 October 1933, died in Rio de Janeiro in January 1983, aged 49. His nickname is the Portuguese name of a small bird, the wren.
Sources and method
RSSSF’s match records for 1958, 1962 and 1966; FIFA’s review of the 1962 tournament (31 August 2018), “Garrincha eliminates and infatuates Chile” (31 October 2024), “Garrincha and Pele convert rivals and royals” (27 June 2024), “Brazil of Garrincha and Pele in stats” (1 January 2024) and “When Brazil gave Garrincha a mind-blowing farewell” (20 January 2023); FIFA’s match centre for each match; Wikipedia’s pages on Garrincha, the 1962 World Cup, its Group 3 and knockout stage, 1958 Group 4 and knockout stage, and 1966 Group 3.
Appearances, results and scorers were recounted from RSSSF and checked against FIFA and Wikipedia. Only matches at World Cup final tournaments count. Ages are calculated from his date of birth. The rules are in How we verify.
Where the sources disagree
FIFA’s match centre and Wikipedia agree on every goal minute given above. RSSSF differs by one minute on two of Garrincha’s goals; the match log follows FIFA and Wikipedia.
| Detail | FIFA | Wikipedia | RSSSF | Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First goal v England, 1962 | 31′ | 31′ | 30′ | 31′ |
| Second goal v Chile, 1962 | 32′ | 32′ | 31′ | 32′ |
FIFA’s 2023 article on his funeral says he and Pelé played six World Cup matches together; the team sheets in all three sources give seven, the four matches from the Soviet Union game to the 1958 final, the first two matches of 1962 and the 1966 match against Bulgaria. FIFA’s 1962 review describes him as 25 at that tournament; by his date of birth he was 28. FIFA’s 2024 semi-final article says the red card suspended him for the final until the appeal; Wikipedia says no ban applied automatically. Both agree that he played.