Players analysis, in distribution.

What month were most goalkeepers born? Do attackers cluster differently from defenders? Where do the GOATs (Pelé, Maradona, Cruyff, Messi, CR7, R9…) fall on the curve — on the modal month or as outliers?

Tournament (single-year)

1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026

Hemisphere filterteam country's hemisphere

All playersevery nation NorthernCONCACAF + UEFA + AFC + most CAF SouthernCONMEBOL + OFC + sub-Saharan

318

Players in window

Teams

21.2

Avg squad size

Tournaments

1938

Squads by position

Players in the selected window, split by role

GET /aggregates/players?years=1938

By confederation

Where the players come from

GET /aggregates/players?years=1938

Hemisphere split

Northern vs Southern hemisphere national teams

Northern296 (93.1%)

Southern22 (6.9%)

ApiTeam.country × hemisphere classification

Birth month, by position

One chart per role. GOAT pin-marks (gold dots above the bars) call out where iconic players sit. Look for the “relative-age effect” — many youth-academy systems privilege Q1 birthdays (Jan-Mar) for early physical development, and you sometimes see the same skew in elite squads.

Goalkeepers

Birth-month distribution + 1 GOAT marker

Lev Yashin· Oct

Modal month: Feb — 5 players (13.5%). Range: 1—5.

Defenders

Birth-month distribution + 2 GOAT markers

Franz Beckenbauer· Sep

Fabio Cannavaro· Sep

Modal month: Jan — 8 players (14.0%). Range: 2—8.

Midfielders

Birth-month distribution + 10 GOAT markers

Bobby Charlton· Oct

Diego Maradona· Oct

Michel Platini· Jun

Zico· Mar

Zinedine Zidane· Jun

Ronaldinho· Mar

Kaká· Apr

Andrés Iniesta· May

Xavi Hernández· Jan

Luka Modrić· Sep

Modal month: Mar — 13 players (16.7%). Range: 1—13.

Attackers

Birth-month distribution + 17 GOAT markers

Pelé· Oct

Garrincha· Oct

Eusébio· Jan

Gerd Müller· Nov

Johan Cruyff· Apr

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge· Sep

Paolo Rossi· Sep

Romário· Jan

Ronaldo (R9)· Sep

Cristiano Ronaldo· Feb

Lionel Messi· Jun

Kylian Mbappé· Dec

Neymar· Feb

Robert Lewandowski· Aug

Mohamed Salah· Jun

Karim Benzema· Dec

Vinícius Jr· Jul

Modal month: Mar — 15 players (11.4%). Range: 5—15.

All players

Every player from the 1938 squad. Search by name or filter by country, position, birth year or birth month. The C badge marks captains. Change the hemisphere filter in the hero above.

NameCountryPositionBirth yearBirth monthHemisphereClub country

318 / 318

Player	Country	Position	DOB	Birth month	Club	Ht	WCs	Goals
Leônidas	Brazil	Attacker	1913-09-06	Sep	Flamengo	—	1	7
György SárosiC	Hungary	Attacker	1912-09-15	Sep	Ferencváros FC	186cm	1	5
Gyula Zsengellér	Hungary	Attacker	1915-12-27	Dec	Újpest FC	177cm	1	5
Silvio Piola	Italy	Attacker	1913-09-29	Sep	Lazio	178cm	1	5
Ernst Wilimowski	Poland	Attacker	1916-06-23	Jun	Ruch Chorzów	—	1	4
Gino Colaussi	Italy	Attacker	1914-03-04	Mar	Triestina	—	1	4
Gustav Wetterström	Sweden	Attacker	1911-10-15	Oct	IK Sleipner	—	1	4
André Abegglen	Switzerland	Attacker	1909-03-07	Mar	Servette	168cm	1	3
Arne Nyberg	Sweden	Attacker	1913-06-20	Jun	IFK Göteborg	—	1	3
Perácio	Brazil	Attacker	1917-11-02	Nov	Botafogo	—	1	3
Héctor Socorro	Cuba	Attacker	1912-06-26	Jun	Iberia Habana	175cm	1	2
Jean Nicolas	France	Attacker	1913-06-09	Jun	FC Rouen	176cm	1	2
Oldřich Nejedlý	Czechoslovakia	Attacker	1909-12-26	Dec	AC Sparta Prague	174cm	1	2
Pál Titkos	Hungary	Attacker	1908-01-08	Jan	MTK Hungária FC	—	1	2
Romeu	Brazil	Attacker	1911-03-26	Mar	Fluminense	—	1	2
Ștefan Dobay	Romania	Attacker	1909-09-26	Sep	Ripensia Timişoara	178cm	1	2
Sven Jonasson	Sweden	Attacker	1909-07-09	Jul	IF Elfsborg	—	1	2
Alfred Bickel	Switzerland	Attacker	1918-05-02	May	Grasshopper Club Zürich	—	1	1
Arne Brustad	Norway	Attacker	1912-04-14	Apr	Lyn	—	1	1
Émile Veinante	France	Attacker	1907-06-12	Jun	RC Paris	—	1	1
Eugen Walaschek	Switzerland	Attacker	1916-06-20	Jun	Servette	—	1	1
Fryderyk Scherfke	Poland	Attacker	1909-09-07	Sep	Warta Poznań	—	1	1
Géza Toldi	Hungary	Attacker	1909-02-11	Feb	Ferencváros FC	—	1	1
Giuseppe MeazzaC	Italy	Midfielder	1910-08-23	Aug	Ambrosiana-Inter	169cm	1	1
Harry Andersson	Sweden	Attacker	1913-03-07	Mar	IK Sleipner	—	1	1
Hendrik Isemborghs	Belgium	Attacker	1914-01-30	Jan	Royal Beerschot AC	—	1	1
Iuliu Baratky	Romania	Attacker	1910-05-14	May	Rapid București	178cm	1	1
Jenő Vincze	Hungary	Attacker	1908-11-20	Nov	Újpest FC	169cm	1	1
José Magriñá	Cuba	Attacker	1917-12-14	Dec	Centro Gallego	—	1	1
Josef Gauchel	Germany	Attacker	1916-09-11	Sep	TuS Koblenz-Neuendorf	—	1	1
Josef Košťálek	Czechoslovakia	Midfielder	1909-08-31	Aug	AC Sparta Prague	—	1	1
Josef Zeman	Czechoslovakia	Attacker	1915-01-23	Jan	AC Sparta Prague	—	1	1
Juan Tuñas	Cuba	Attacker	1917-07-17	Jul	Centro Gallego	—	1	1
Oscar Heisserer	France	Attacker	1914-07-18	Jul	RC Strasbourg	170cm	1	1
Patesko	Brazil	Attacker	1910-11-12	Nov	Botafogo	—	1	1
Pietro Ferraris	Italy	Attacker	1912-02-15	Feb	Ambrosiana-Inter	—	1	1
Roberto	Brazil	Attacker	1912-06-20	Jun	São Cristóvão	—	1	1
Rudolf Gellesch	Germany	Attacker	1914-05-01	May	FC Schalke 04	—	1	1
Silviu Bindea	Romania	Attacker	1912-10-24	Oct	Ripensia Timişoara	177cm	1	1
Tomás Fernández	Cuba	Attacker	—	—	Centro Gallego	—	1	1
Tore Keller	Sweden	Attacker	1905-01-04	Jan	IK Sleipner	184cm	1	1
Vilmos Kohut	Hungary	Attacker	1906-07-17	Jul	Marseille	—	1	1
Vlastimil Kopecký	Czechoslovakia	Midfielder	1912-10-14	Oct	SK Slavia Prague	167cm	1	1
Wilhelm Hahnemann	Germany	Attacker	1914-04-14	Apr	Admira Wien[F]	—	1	1
Abdelkader Ben Bouali	France	Defender	1912-10-25	Oct	Marseille	—	1	—
Achmad Nawir	Dutch East Indies	Midfielder	1912-06-30	Jun	HBS Soerabaja	—	1	—
Adolf Stelzer	Switzerland	Defender	1908-09-01	Sep	Lausanne Sports	—	1	—
Adri van Male	Netherlands	Goalkeeper	1910-10-07	Oct	SC Feyenoord Rotterdam	—	1	—
Afonsinho	Brazil	Midfielder	1914-03-08	Mar	São Cristóvão	—	1	—
Åke Andersson	Sweden	Attacker	1917-04-22	Apr	GAIS	—	1	—
Albert Guinchard	Switzerland	Midfielder	1914-11-10	Nov	Servette	—	1	—
Albin Kitzinger	Germany	Midfielder	1912-02-01	Feb	1. FC Schweinfurt 05	—	1	—
Aldo Donati	Italy	Midfielder	1910-09-29	Sep	Roma	—	1	—
Aldo Olivieri	Italy	Goalkeeper	1910-10-02	Oct	Lucchese	178cm	1	—
Alessandro Frigerio	Switzerland	Attacker	1914-11-15	Nov	Le Havre AC	—	1	—
Alf Martinsen	Norway	Attacker	1911-12-29	Dec	Lillestrøm	—	1	—
Alfons De Winter	Belgium	Midfielder	1908-09-12	Sep	Royal Beerschot AC	180cm	1	—
Alfred Aston	France	Attacker	1912-05-16	May	Red Star Olympique	175cm	1	—
Alfredo Foni	Italy	Defender	1911-01-20	Jan	Juventus	172cm	1	—
Amedeo Biavati	Italy	Attacker	1915-04-04	Apr	Bologna	—	1	—
André Vandeweyer	Belgium	Goalkeeper	1909-06-21	Jun	Union Royale Saint-Gilloise	—	1	—
Andreas Kupfer	Germany	Midfielder	1914-05-07	May	1. FC Schweinfurt 05	—	1	—
Andrei Bărbulescu	Romania	Midfielder	1917-03-25	Mar	Venus București	176cm	1	—
Anker Kihle	Norway	Goalkeeper	1917-04-19	Apr	Storm	—	1	—
Antal Szabó	Hungary	Goalkeeper	1910-09-04	Sep	MTK Hungária FC	174cm	1	—
Antal Szalay	Hungary	Midfielder	1912-03-12	Mar	Újpest FC	—	1	—
Antoni Gałecki	Poland	Defender	1906-06-04	Jun	ŁKS Łódź	170cm	1	—
Antoni Łyko	Poland	Attacker	1907-05-27	May	Wisła Kraków	172cm	1	—
Antonín Puč	Czechoslovakia	Attacker	1907-05-16	May	SK Slavia Prague	—	1	—
Argemiro	Brazil	Midfielder	1915-06-03	Jun	Portuguesa Santista	174cm	1	—
Arie de Winter	Netherlands	Attacker	1913-10-27	Oct	HFC Haarlem	179cm	1	—
Arne Ileby	Norway	Attacker	1913-12-02	Dec	Fredrikstad	—	1	—
Arne Linderholm	Sweden	Midfielder	1916-02-22	Feb	IK Sleipner	—	1	—
Arnold Badjou	Belgium	Goalkeeper	1909-06-26	Jun	Daring Club de Bruxelles Societe Royale	174cm	1	—
Arnošt Kreuz	Czechoslovakia	Attacker	1912-05-09	May	SK Pardubice	—	1	—
Arthur Ceuleers	Belgium	Attacker	1916-02-28	Feb	Royal Beerschot AC	177cm	1	—
August Lehmann	Switzerland	Defender	1909-01-26	Jan	Grasshopper Club Zürich	—	1	—
Auguste Jordan	France	Midfielder	1909-02-21	Feb	RC Paris	—	1	—
Bas Paauwe	Netherlands	Midfielder	1911-10-04	Oct	SC Feyenoord Rotterdam	—	1	—
Batatais	Brazil	Goalkeeper	1910-05-20	May	Fluminense	—	1	—
Béla Sárosi	Hungary	Midfielder	1919-05-15	May	Ferencváros FC	—	1	—
Benito Carvajales	Cuba	Goalkeeper	1913-07-25	Jul	Centro Gallego	186cm	1	—
Bernard Voorhoof	Belgium	Attacker	1910-05-10	May	KSK Liersche	176cm	1	—
Bertus Caldenhove	Netherlands	Defender	1914-01-19	Jan	DWS	—	1	—
Bertus de Harder	Netherlands	Attacker	1920-01-14	Jan	VUC Den Haag	173cm	1	—
Bolesław Habowski	Poland	Attacker	1914-09-13	Sep	Wisła Kraków	166cm	1	—
Brandão	Brazil	Midfielder	1911-04-21	Apr	Corinthians	—	1	—
Britto	Brazil	Midfielder	1914-05-06	May	America-RJ	—	1	—
Bruno Chizzo	Italy	Midfielder	1916-04-19	Apr	Triestina	168cm	1	—
Carlo Ceresoli	Italy	Goalkeeper	1910-05-14	May	Bologna	—	1	—
Carlos Oliveira	Cuba	Attacker	—	—	Hispano America	—	1	—
Charles Vanden Wouwer	Belgium	Attacker	1916-09-07	Sep	Royal Beerschot AC	—	1	—
Coloman Braun-Bogdan	Romania	Attacker	1905-10-13	Oct	Juventus București	—	1	—
Corneel Seys	Belgium	Defender	1912-02-12	Feb	Royal Beerschot AC	—	1	—
Curt Bergsten	Sweden	Attacker	1915-08-21	Aug	Landskrona BoIS	—	1	—
Daaf Drok	Netherlands	Attacker	1914-05-23	May	RFC Rotterdam	—	1	—
Dick Been	Netherlands	Defender	1909-07-02	Jul	Ajax Amsterdam	—	1	—
Domingos da Guia	Brazil	Defender	1912-11-19	Nov	Flamengo	186cm	1	—
Dumitru Pavlovici	Romania	Goalkeeper	1912-04-26	Apr	Ripensia Timişoara	—	1	—
Edmond Delfour	France	Attacker	1907-11-01	Nov	RC Roubaix	169cm	1	—

GOAT reference

Curated. Inclusion in this list isn't a championship ranking — it's a span of Ballon-d'Or winners + nominees + commonly-cited GOATs across eras, used for the overlay above.

NameCountryPositionBirth yearBirth month

30 / 30

Player	Country	Position	DOB	Birth month	Club	Ht	Goals
Pelé	Brazil	Attacker	1940-10-23	Oct	—	—	—
Garrincha	Brazil	Attacker	1933-10-28	Oct	—	—	—
Eusébio	Portugal	Attacker	1942-01-25	Jan	—	—	—
Bobby Charlton	England	Midfielder	1937-10-11	Oct	—	—	—
Lev Yashin	Soviet Union	Goalkeeper	1929-10-22	Oct	—	—	—
Gerd Müller	West Germany	Attacker	1945-11-03	Nov	—	—	—
Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Attacker	1947-04-25	Apr	—	—	—
Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	Defender	1945-09-11	Sep	—	—	—
Diego Maradona	Argentina	Midfielder	1960-10-30	Oct	—	—	—
Michel Platini	France	Midfielder	1955-06-21	Jun	—	—	—
Zico	Brazil	Midfielder	1953-03-03	Mar	—	—	—
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Attacker	1955-09-25	Sep	—	—	—
Paolo Rossi	Italy	Attacker	1956-09-23	Sep	—	—	—
Romário	Brazil	Attacker	1966-01-29	Jan	—	—	—
Ronaldo (R9)	Brazil	Attacker	1976-09-22	Sep	—	—	—
Zinedine Zidane	France	Midfielder	1972-06-23	Jun	—	—	—
Ronaldinho	Brazil	Midfielder	1980-03-21	Mar	—	—	—
Kaká	Brazil	Midfielder	1982-04-22	Apr	—	—	—
Fabio Cannavaro	Italy	Defender	1973-09-13	Sep	—	—	—
Andrés Iniesta	Spain	Midfielder	1984-05-11	May	—	—	—
Xavi Hernández	Spain	Midfielder	1980-01-25	Jan	—	—	—
Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Attacker	1985-02-05	Feb	—	—	—
Lionel Messi	Argentina	Attacker	1987-06-24	Jun	—	—	—
Luka Modrić	Croatia	Midfielder	1985-09-09	Sep	—	—	—
Kylian Mbappé	France	Attacker	1998-12-20	Dec	—	—	—
Neymar	Brazil	Attacker	1992-02-05	Feb	—	—	—
Robert Lewandowski	Poland	Attacker	1988-08-21	Aug	—	—	—
Mohamed Salah	Egypt	Attacker	1992-06-15	Jun	—	—	—
Karim Benzema	France	Attacker	1987-12-19	Dec	—	—	—
Vinícius Jr	Brazil	Attacker	2000-07-12	Jul	—	—	—

Hat-tricks (3+ goals in a match)

Every individual 3+ goal performance in World Cup history. Oleg Salenko's 5-goal haul in 1994 v Cameroon is the all-time single-match record.

#	Player	Team	Opponent	Stage	Year	Goals
1	Oleg Salenko	Russia	Cameroon	Group	1994	5
2	Ernst Wilimowski	Poland	Brazil	Round of 16	1938	4
3	Ademir	Brazil	Sweden	Final round	1950	4
4	Sándor Kocsis	Hungary	West Germany	Group	1954	4
5	Eusébio	Portugal	North Korea	Quarter-final	1966	4
6	Emilio Butragueño	Spain	Denmark	Round of 16	1986	4
7	Bert Patenaude	United States	Paraguay	Group	1930	3
8	Pedro Cea	Uruguay	Yugoslavia	Semi-final	1930	3
9	Guillermo Stábile	Argentina	Mexico	Group	1930	3
10	Edmund Conen	Germany	Belgium	Round of 16	1934	3
11	Angelo Schiavio	Italy	United States	Round of 16	1934	3
12	Oldřich Nejedlý	Czechoslovakia	Germany	Semi-final	1934	3
13	Leônidas	Brazil	Poland	Round of 16	1938	3
14	Gyula Zsengellér	Hungary	Dutch East Indies	Round of 16	1938	3
15	Harry Andersson	Sweden	Cuba	Quarter-final	1938	3
16	Gustav Wetterström	Sweden	Cuba	Quarter-final	1938	3
17	Oscar Míguez	Uruguay	Bolivia	Group	1950	3
18	Estanislao Basora	Spain	Uruguay	Final round	1950	3
19	Sándor Kocsis	Hungary	South Korea	Group	1954	3
20	Erich Probst	Austria	Czechoslovakia	Group	1954	3
21	Carlos Borges	Uruguay	Scotland	Group	1954	3
22	Suat Mamat	Turkey	South Korea	Group	1954	3
23	Josef Hügi	Switzerland	Austria	Quarter-final	1954	3
24	Just Fontaine	France	Paraguay	Group	1958	3
25	Just Fontaine	France	West Germany	Third place	1958	3
26	Pelé	Brazil	France	Semi-final	1958	3
27	Florian Albert	Hungary	Bulgaria	Group	1962	3
28	Geoff Hurst	England	West Germany	Final	1966	3
29	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	Switzerland	Group	1966	3
30	Helmut Haller	West Germany	Switzerland	Group	1966	3
31	Eusébio	Portugal	Brazil	Group	1966	3
32	Gerd Müller	West Germany	Bulgaria	Group	1970	3
33	Gerd Müller	West Germany	Peru	Quarter-final	1970	3
34	Andrzej Szarmach	Poland	Haiti	Group	1974	3
35	Dušan Bajević	Yugoslavia	Zaire	Group	1974	3
36	Robbie Rensenbrink	Netherlands	Iran	Group	1978	3
37	Teófilo Cubillas	Peru	Iran	Group	1978	3
38	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Chile	Group	1982	3
39	Zbigniew Boniek	Poland	Belgium	Second round	1982	3
40	László Kiss	Hungary	El Salvador	Group	1982	3
41	Paolo Rossi	Italy	Brazil	Second round	1982	3
42	Gary Lineker	England	Poland	Group	1986	3
43	Igor Belanov	Soviet Union	Belgium	Round of 16	1986	3
44	Tomáš Skuhravý	Czechoslovakia	Costa Rica	Round of 16	1990	3
45	Míchel	Spain	South Korea	Group	1990	3
46	Gabriel Batistuta	Argentina	Greece	Group	1994	3
47	Gabriel Batistuta	Argentina	Jamaica	Group	1998	3
48	Miroslav Klose	Germany	Saudi Arabia	Group	2002	3
49	Pauleta	Portugal	Poland	Group	2002	3
50	Gonzalo Higuaín	Argentina	South Korea	Group	2010	3
51	Thomas Müller	Germany	Portugal	Group	2014	3
52	Xherdan Shaqiri	Switzerland	Honduras	Group	2014	3
53	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Spain	Group	2018	3
54	Harry Kane	England	Panama	Group	2018	3
55	Gonçalo Ramos	Portugal	Switzerland	Round of 16	2022	3
56	Kylian Mbappé	France	Argentina	Final	2022	3

56 hat-tricks · 6with 4+ goals · Salenko's 5 (1994) is the only 5-goal haul on record