Carbajal, goalkeeper who played in five World Cups, dies – 05/12/2023 – The World Is a Ball

Antonio Felix Carbajal Rodríguez was known in his home country of Mexico as “The Five Cups”. The nickname is self-explanatory: it referred to the number of World Cups played by him.

He was the first of eight athletes who were present at five World Cups.

Then came his compatriots Andrés Guardado, Rafael Márquez and Guillermo Ochoa and the stars Lothar Matthäus (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Lionel Messi (Argentina).

Of these, goalkeepers Ochoa and Buffon, despite having been in five editions of the Cup, did not play in all of them. The first was on reserve in 2006 (Germany) and 2010 (South Africa), and the second was a substitute in 1998 (France).

Carbajal, who was 1.81 m (goalkeepers at the time were not as tall as they are now), participated in the World Cups in 1950 (Brazil), when he was 21 years old, 1954 (Switzerland), 1958 (Sweden), 1962 (Chile ) and 1966 (England).

In total, he played as a starter in 11 matches, and in all the Cups he was in he started playing at least once and was the team captain in two of them (1958 and 1962).

However, he was not successful in terms of results: eight defeats, two draws and a single victory, in 1962, 3 to 1 in Czechoslovakia, which would later reach the decision and lose to Brazil by Garrincha, Vavá and Amarildo.

Brazil was the opponent that Carbajal faced the most times in World Cups, twice: 0 to 4 in 1950, in Maracanã with more than 81 thousand fans, and 0 to 2 in the Sausalito stadium, in Viña del Mar.

In that second game, in the Chilean World Cup, he conceded a goal from Pelé, before the King of Football was injured and left the Brazilian team out of the tournament.

In the 11 games in which he participated, the Mexican number 1 was leaked 25 times, an average of 2.3 goals per game.

He did not look for the ball in the net once, precisely in his last appearance in a World Cup, against Uruguay, 0-0 in 1966 at the legendary Wembley stadium, in London.

“It is with deep sadness that we learn of the death of Antonio Carbajal, the first footballer to play in five World Cups,” wrote FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Carbajal, the last remaining member of the Mexican national team that came to Brazil for the 1950 World Cup, died on Tuesday (9), aged 93, in León, the city where he defended the local club for 17 years.

On a social network, León paid tribute: “Don Antonio, legends never die. We will always follow your hand. It is an honor to be on your team.” The Mexican national team’s website was succinct and direct: “You are eternal.”

Carbajal had a problem with high blood pressure and had been hospitalized for a week.

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