The countdown continues and it's now six days to the kickoff of Qatar vs Ecuador. So, we look into the important or interesting #6's of the Cup's history.

In the numbering thread we saw that #6 is typically a left-back, a defender
or a midfielder, depending on each country's numbering "habits", so to say. And those are, generally, the kind of players we'll see here.

Let's begin with Spain. Andrés Iniesta, scorer of the title-winning goal of World Cup 2010, wore La Furia's #6 from 2010 to 2018. The number's top goalscorer, though, is another Spanish player, Fernando Hierro, with 5 World Cup goals scored from 1994 to 2002. Spain also gave #6 to Alfredo Di Stefano
in the only World Cup he was called up for, in 1962, but he did not play in
any game there.

Since we're at the Iberian Peninsula, let's name a few Portuguese #6's too. There's Carlos Manuel, who scored the winning goal of Portugal's "miracle of Stuttgart" as they handed West Germany their first ever home loss in World Cup Qualification and returned to the world stage after a 20 years abscence. They didn't do well in the Cup, being eliminated in the first round, but Carlos Manuel did get to score his team's winning goal over England there. Paulo
Sousa (2002) and Ricardo Carvalho (2010) are two other notorious Portuguese #6's, even if Portugal didn't do too well in those Cups either.

France brings on a few more midfielders, with Youri Djorkaeff (1998 and 2002), Claude Makelele (2006) and Paul Pogba (2018). England, instead, goes with defenders: 1966 hero Bobby Moore (who also wore the number in 1970) and, more recently, Sol Campbell (2002) and John Terry (2006 and 2010). Current England manager Gareth Southgate was given #6 in 1998 too.

Italy never gave #6 to the same player in more than one World Cup, so they
do make the biggest contribution to today's list, with names such as Giovanni Trappatoni (1962), Giacinto Facchetti (1966), Tarcisio Burgnich (1974), Claudio Gentile (1982), Gaetano Scirea (in his last WC, 1986), Franco Baresi (1994) and Alessandro Nesta (1998). Best WC performances being Gentile in 1982, stopping Maradona and Zico, and Baresi in 1994, who overcame a surgery during the Cup and returned in time to play at a high level in the final.

Brasil usually gives #6 to its left-backs. Nilton Santos, in his last World Cup, was given the number he used to wear at his Botafogo, and is considered
an all-time great in Brasil. Since then there have been Junior (1982 and 1986), Branco (1990 and 1994), Roberto Carlos (1998 to 2006) and Marcelo (2014). An exception to the rule, Didi played #6 as he commanded Brasil's midfield in
WC 1958.

#6 was Daniel Passarella's last squad number, in 1986, though he didn't play any matches in that tournament. Other Argentinian defenders with #6: Oscar Ruggeri (1994), Nestor Sensini (1998), Walter Samuel (2002) and Gabriel Heinze (2006 and 2010). Plus, unusually, they had a forward with this number,
Ramón Diaz in 1982.

Honourable mentions too to Josef Masopust, Czechoslovakia's center-half of
WC 1962; Taribo West, Nigerian defender who won the gold medal in the 1996 Olympics and played in 1998 and 2002; and to Germany's Sami Khedira (2010 to 2018).

As always, feel free to comment, add or correct anything you see fit on the above. Next to come, #5!


Best regards,

Lléo

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