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?

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'30s

1930 1934 1938

'50s

'60s

'70s

'80s

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'00s

'10s

'20s

704

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Teams

22.0

Avg squad size

Tournaments

1974, 1978

Squads by position

Players in the selected window, split by role

GET /aggregates/players?years=1974,1978

By confederation

Where the players come from

GET /aggregates/players?years=1974,1978

Hemisphere split

Northern vs Southern hemisphere national teams

Northern528 (75.0%)

Southern176 (25.0%)

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 — 19 players (20.0%). Range: 1—19.

Defenders

Birth-month distribution + 2 GOAT markers

Franz Beckenbauer· Sep

Fabio Cannavaro· Sep

Modal month: Oct — 34 players (15.5%). Range: 13—34.

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: Oct — 30 players (14.0%). Range: 12—30.

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: Jul — 20 players (11.6%). Range: 7—20.

All players

Every player from the 1974, 1978 squads. Search by name or filter by country, position, birth year or birth month. The C badge marks captains.

NameCountryPositionBirth yearBirth month

649 / 649

Player	Country	Position	DOB	Birth month	WCs	Goals
Grzegorz Lato	Poland	Attacker	1950-04-08	Apr	2	9
Johnny Rep	Netherlands	Attacker	1951-11-25	Nov	2	7
Andrzej Szarmach	Poland	Attacker	1950-10-03	Oct	2	6
Mario Kempes	Argentina	Attacker	1954-07-15	Jul	2	6
Rob Rensenbrink	Netherlands	Attacker	1947-07-03	Jul	2	6
Johan Neeskens	Netherlands	Midfielder	1951-09-15	Sep	2	5
Teófilo Cubillas	Peru	Midfielder	1949-03-08	Mar	1	5
Kazimierz DeynaC	Poland	Midfielder	1947-10-23	Oct	2	4
Ralf Edström	Sweden	Attacker	1952-10-07	Oct	2	4
René Houseman	Argentina	Midfielder	1953-07-19	Jul	2	4
Gerd Müller	West Germany	Attacker	1945-11-03	Nov	1	4
Hans Krankl	Austria	Attacker	1953-02-14	Feb	1	4
Leopoldo Luque	Argentina	Attacker	1949-05-03	May	1	4
Dirceu	Brazil	Attacker	1952-06-15	Jun	2	3
Joe Jordan	Scotland	Attacker	1951-12-15	Dec	2	3
RivellinoC	Brazil	Midfielder	1946-01-01	Jan	2	3
Dušan Bajević	Yugoslavia	Attacker	1948-12-10	Dec	1	3
Ernie Brandts	Netherlands	Defender	1956-02-03	Feb	1	3
Johan CruyffC	Netherlands	Midfielder	1947-04-25	Apr	1	3
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Attacker	1955-09-25	Sep	1	3
Paolo Rossi	Italy	Attacker	1956-09-23	Sep	1	3
Paul Breitner	West Germany	Defender	1951-09-05	Sep	1	3
Roberto Dinamite	Brazil	Attacker	1954-04-13	Apr	1	3
Arie Haan	Netherlands	Midfielder	1948-11-16	Nov	2	2
Heinz Flohe	West Germany	Midfielder	1948-01-28	Jan	2	2
Nelinho	Brazil	Defender	1950-07-26	Jul	2	2
Romeo Benetti	Italy	Midfielder	1945-10-20	Oct	2	2
Ruud KrolC	Netherlands	Defender	1949-03-24	Mar	2	2
Archie Gemmill	Scotland	Midfielder	1947-03-24	Mar	1	2
Daniel Bertoni	Argentina	Attacker	1955-03-14	Mar	1	2
Dieter Müller	West Germany	Attacker	1954-04-01	Apr	1	2
Emmanuel Sanon	Haiti	Attacker	1951-06-25	Jun	1	2
Héctor Yazalde	Argentina	Attacker	1946-05-29	May	1	2
Ivica Šurjak	Yugoslavia	Attacker	1953-03-23	Mar	1	2
Jairzinho	Brazil	Attacker	1944-12-25	Dec	1	2
Joachim Streich	East Germany	Attacker	1951-04-13	Apr	1	2
Roberto Bettega	Italy	Attacker	1950-12-27	Dec	1	2
Roland Sandberg	Sweden	Attacker	1946-12-16	Dec	1	2
Stanislav Karasi	Yugoslavia	Attacker	1946-11-08	Nov	1	2
Wolfgang Overath	West Germany	Midfielder	1943-09-29	Sep	1	2
Zbigniew Boniek	Poland	Midfielder	1956-03-03	Mar	1	2
Bernd Hölzenbein	West Germany	Midfielder	1946-03-09	Mar	2	1
Bernhard Cullmann	West Germany	Midfielder	1949-11-01	Nov	2	1
Berti VogtsC	West Germany	Defender	1946-12-30	Dec	2	1
Conny Torstensson	Sweden	Midfielder	1949-08-28	Aug	2	1
Franco Causio	Italy	Midfielder	1949-02-01	Feb	2	1
Jerzy Gorgoń	Poland	Defender	1949-07-18	Jul	2	1
Kenny Dalglish	Scotland	Attacker	1951-03-04	Mar	2	1
Rainer Bonhof	West Germany	Midfielder	1952-03-29	Mar	2	1
René van de Kerkhof	Netherlands	Midfielder	1951-09-16	Sep	2	1
Willy van de Kerkhof	Netherlands	Midfielder	1951-09-16	Sep	2	1
Alberto Tarantini	Argentina	Defender	1955-12-03	Dec	1	1
Ali Kaabi	Tunisia	Defender	1953-11-15	Nov	1	1
Andranik Eskandarian	Iran	Defender	1951-12-31	Dec	1	1
András Tóth	Hungary	Attacker	1949-09-05	Sep	1	1
Arturo Vázquez AyalaC	Mexico	Defender	1949-06-26	Jun	1	1
Bernard Lacombe	France	Attacker	1952-08-15	Aug	1	1
Branko Oblak	Yugoslavia	Midfielder	1947-05-27	May	1	1
Carlos Babington	Argentina	Midfielder	1949-09-20	Sep	1	1
César Cueto	Peru	Midfielder	1952-06-16	Jun	1	1
Christian Lopez	France	Defender	1953-03-15	Mar	1	1
Colin Curran	Australia	Defender	1947-08-21	Aug	1	1
Dani	Spain	Attacker	1951-06-28	Jun	1	1
Daniel PassarellaC	Argentina	Defender	1953-05-25	May	1	1
Dick Nanninga	Netherlands	Attacker	1949-01-17	Jan	1	1
Dominique Rocheteau	France	Midfielder	1955-01-14	Jan	1	1
Dragan DžajićC	Yugoslavia	Attacker	1946-05-30	May	1	1
Erich Obermayer	Austria	Defender	1953-01-23	Jan	1	1
Fabio Capello	Italy	Midfielder	1946-06-18	Jun	1	1
Gianni Rivera	Italy	Midfielder	1943-08-18	Aug	1	1
Hansi Müller	West Germany	Midfielder	1957-07-27	Jul	1	1
Hassan Rowshan	Iran	Attacker	1955-06-02	Jun	1	1
Hristo BonevC	Bulgaria	Attacker	1947-02-03	Feb	1	1
Ilija Petković	Yugoslavia	Attacker	1945-09-22	Sep	1	1
Iraj Danaeifard	Iran	Midfielder	1951-03-11	Mar	1	1
José Velásquez	Peru	Midfielder	1952-06-04	Jun	1	1
Josip Katalinski	Yugoslavia	Defender	1948-05-12	May	1	1
Juan Manuel Asensi	Spain	Midfielder	1949-09-23	Sep	1	1
Jürgen Grabowski	West Germany	Attacker	1944-07-07	Jul	1	1
Jürgen Sparwasser	East Germany	Midfielder	1948-06-04	Jun	1	1
Károly Csapó	Hungary	Midfielder	1952-02-23	Feb	1	1
Marc Berdoll	France	Attacker	1953-04-06	Apr	1	1
Martin Hoffmann	East Germany	Attacker	1955-03-22	Mar	1	1
Michel Platini	France	Midfielder	1955-06-21	Jun	1	1
Miguel Ángel Brindisi	Argentina	Midfielder	1950-10-08	Oct	1	1
Mokhtar Dhouieb	Tunisia	Defender	1952-03-23	Mar	1	1
Néjib Ghommidh	Tunisia	Midfielder	1953-03-12	Mar	1	1
Peter Lorimer	Scotland	Attacker	1946-12-14	Dec	1	1
Pietro Anastasi	Italy	Attacker	1948-04-07	Apr	1	1
Ramón Heredia	Argentina	Defender	1951-02-26	Feb	1	1
Reinaldo	Brazil	Attacker	1957-01-11	Jan	1	1
Renato Zaccarelli	Italy	Midfielder	1951-01-18	Jan	1	1
Ricardo Pavoni	Uruguay	Defender	1943-07-08	Jul	1	1
Roberto PerfumoC	Argentina	Defender	1942-10-03	Oct	1	1
Rubén Ayala	Argentina	Attacker	1950-01-08	Jan	1	1
Rüdiger Abramczik	West Germany	Attacker	1956-02-18	Feb	1	1
Sándor Zombori	Hungary	Midfielder	1951-10-31	Oct	1	1
Sergio Ahumada	Chile	Attacker	1948-10-02	Oct	1	1
Theo de Jong	Netherlands	Midfielder	1947-08-11	Aug	1	1
Thomas Sjöberg	Sweden	Attacker	1952-07-06	Jul	1	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	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