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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528

Players in window

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22.0

Avg squad size

Tournaments

1986

Squads by position

Players in the selected window, split by role

GET /aggregates/players?years=1986

By confederation

Where the players come from

GET /aggregates/players?years=1986

Hemisphere split

Northern vs Southern hemisphere national teams

Northern440 (83.3%)

Southern88 (16.7%)

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: Apr — 9 players (12.9%). Range: 3—9.

Defenders

Birth-month distribution + 2 GOAT markers

Franz Beckenbauer· Sep

Fabio Cannavaro· Sep

Modal month: Mar — 17 players (10.2%). Range: 8—17.

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: Jan — 24 players (13.8%). Range: 10—24.

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: Apr — 17 players (14.5%). Range: 5—17.

All players

Every player from the 1986 squad. Search by name or filter by country, position, birth year or birth month. The C badge marks captains.

NameCountryPositionBirth yearBirth month

528 / 528

Player	Country	Position	DOB	Birth month	WCs	Goals
Gary Lineker	England	Attacker	1960-11-30	Nov	1	6
Careca	Brazil	Attacker	1960-10-05	Oct	1	5
Diego MaradonaC	Argentina	Midfielder	1960-10-30	Oct	1	5
Emilio Butragueño	Spain	Attacker	1963-07-22	Jul	1	5
Alessandro Altobelli	Italy	Attacker	1955-11-28	Nov	1	4
Ihor Belanov	Soviet Union	Midfielder	1960-09-25	Sep	1	4
Jorge Valdano	Argentina	Attacker	1955-10-04	Oct	1	4
Preben Elkjær	Denmark	Attacker	1957-09-11	Sep	1	4
Jan CeulemansC	Belgium	Midfielder	1957-02-28	Feb	1	3
Jesper Olsen	Denmark	Midfielder	1961-03-20	Mar	1	3
Nico Claesen	Belgium	Attacker	1962-10-07	Oct	1	3
Rudi Völler	West Germany	Attacker	1960-04-13	Apr	1	3
Abderrazak Khairi	Morocco	Attacker	1962-11-20	Nov	1	2
Enzo Scifo	Belgium	Midfielder	1966-02-19	Feb	1	2
Fernando Quirarte	Mexico	Defender	1956-05-17	May	1	2
Jean-Pierre Papin	France	Attacker	1963-11-05	Nov	1	2
Jorge Burruchaga	Argentina	Midfielder	1962-10-09	Oct	1	2
Josimar	Brazil	Defender	1961-09-19	Sep	1	2
Julio César Romero	Paraguay	Midfielder	1960-08-28	Aug	1	2
Klaus Allofs	West Germany	Attacker	1956-12-05	Dec	1	2
Michel PlatiniC	France	Midfielder	1955-06-21	Jun	1	2
Ramón Calderé	Spain	Midfielder	1959-01-16	Jan	1	2
Roberto Cabañas	Paraguay	Attacker	1961-04-11	Apr	1	2
Sócrates	Brazil	Midfielder	1954-02-19	Feb	1	2
Yannick Stopyra	France	Attacker	1961-01-09	Jan	1	2
Abdelkrim Merry "Krimau"	Morocco	Attacker	1955-01-13	Jan	1	1
Ahmed Radhi	Iraq	Attacker	1964-03-21	Mar	1	1
Andoni Goikoetxea	Spain	Defender	1956-08-23	Aug	1	1
Andreas Brehme	West Germany	Defender	1960-11-09	Nov	1	1
Antonio Alzamendi	Uruguay	Attacker	1956-06-07	Jun	1	1
Bernard Genghini	France	Midfielder	1958-01-18	Jan	1	1
Carlos Manuel	Portugal	Midfielder	1958-01-15	Jan	1	1
Cho Kwang-rae	South Korea	Midfielder	1954-03-19	Mar	1	1
Choi Soon-ho	South Korea	Attacker	1962-01-10	Jan	1	1
Colin Clarke	Northern Ireland	Attacker	1962-10-30	Oct	1	1
Daniel Veyt	Belgium	Attacker	1956-12-09	Dec	1	1
Diamantino	Portugal	Midfielder	1959-08-03	Aug	1	1
Djamel Zidane	Algeria	Attacker	1955-04-28	Apr	1	1
Dominique Rocheteau	France	Attacker	1955-01-14	Jan	1	1
EdinhoC	Brazil	Defender	1955-06-05	Jun	1	1
Eloy	Spain	Attacker	1964-07-10	Jul	1	1
Enzo Francescoli	Uruguay	Attacker	1961-11-12	Nov	1	1
Erwin Vandenbergh	Belgium	Attacker	1959-01-26	Jan	1	1
Franky Vercauteren	Belgium	Midfielder	1956-10-28	Oct	1	1
Gordon Strachan	Scotland	Midfielder	1957-02-09	Feb	1	1
Hugo Sánchez	Mexico	Attacker	1958-07-11	Jul	1	1
Huh Jung-moo	South Korea	Midfielder	1955-01-13	Jan	1	1
Ivan Yaremchuk	Soviet Union	Midfielder	1962-03-19	Mar	1	1
Jean Tigana	France	Midfielder	1955-06-23	Jun	1	1
Jean-Marc Ferreri	France	Midfielder	1962-12-26	Dec	1	1
John Eriksen	Denmark	Attacker	1957-11-20	Nov	1	1
José Luis Brown	Argentina	Defender	1956-11-10	Nov	1	1
Juan Antonio Señor	Spain	Midfielder	1958-08-26	Aug	1	1
Julio Salinas	Spain	Attacker	1962-09-11	Sep	1	1
Karl-Heinz RummeniggeC	West Germany	Attacker	1955-09-25	Sep	1	1
Kim Jong-boo	South Korea	Attacker	1965-11-03	Nov	1	1
Lajos Détári	Hungary	Midfielder	1963-04-24	Apr	1	1
László Dajka	Hungary	Attacker	1959-04-29	Apr	1	1
Lothar Matthäus	West Germany	Midfielder	1961-03-21	Mar	1	1
Luis Fernandez	France	Midfielder	1959-10-02	Oct	1	1
Luis Flores	Mexico	Attacker	1961-07-18	Jul	1	1
Manuel Amoros	France	Defender	1962-02-01	Feb	1	1
Manuel Negrete	Mexico	Midfielder	1959-05-15	May	1	1
Márton Esterházy	Hungary	Attacker	1956-04-09	Apr	1	1
Michael Laudrup	Denmark	Attacker	1964-06-15	Jun	1	1
Nasko Sirakov	Bulgaria	Attacker	1962-04-26	Apr	1	1
Norman Whiteside	Northern Ireland	Midfielder	1965-05-07	May	1	1
Oleh Blokhin	Soviet Union	Attacker	1952-11-05	Nov	1	1
Oleksandr Zavarov	Soviet Union	Midfielder	1961-04-24	Apr	1	1
Oscar Ruggeri	Argentina	Defender	1962-01-26	Jan	1	1
Park Chang-sunC	South Korea	Midfielder	1954-02-02	Feb	1	1
Pavlo Yakovenko	Soviet Union	Midfielder	1964-12-19	Dec	1	1
Pedro Pasculli	Argentina	Attacker	1960-05-17	May	1	1
Peter Beardsley	England	Attacker	1961-01-18	Jan	1	1
Plamen Getov	Bulgaria	Midfielder	1959-03-04	Mar	1	1
Raúl Servín	Mexico	Defender	1963-04-29	Apr	1	1
Sergei Aleinikov	Soviet Union	Midfielder	1961-11-07	Nov	1	1
Sergey Rodionov	Soviet Union	Attacker	1962-09-03	Sep	1	1
Søren Lerby	Denmark	Midfielder	1958-02-01	Feb	1	1
Stéphane Demol	Belgium	Defender	1966-03-11	Mar	1	1
Vasyl Rats	Soviet Union	Midfielder	1961-04-25	Apr	1	1
Włodzimierz Smolarek	Poland	Midfielder	1957-07-16	Jul	1	1
Abdelaziz Souleimani	Morocco	Midfielder	1958-04-30	Apr	1	—
Abdelfettah Mouddani	Morocco	Goalkeeper	1956-07-30	Jul	1	—
Abdelfettah Rhiati	Morocco	Attacker	1963-02-25	Feb	1	—
Abdelhamid Sadmi	Algeria	Defender	1961-01-01	Jan	1	—
Abdellah Bidane	Morocco	Defender	1965-09-10	Sep	1	—
Abdellah Medjadi Liegeon	Algeria	Defender	1957-12-01	Dec	1	—
Abdelmajid Dolmy	Morocco	Midfielder	1953-04-19	Apr	1	—
Abdelmajid Lamriss	Morocco	Defender	1959-02-12	Feb	1	—
Adolfino Cañete	Paraguay	Midfielder	1956-09-13	Sep	1	—
Ahmad Jassim	Iraq	Goalkeeper	1960-05-04	May	1	—
Alain Giresse	France	Midfielder	1952-09-02	Sep	1	—
Alan McDonald	Northern Ireland	Defender	1963-10-12	Oct	1	—
Alan Rough	Scotland	Goalkeeper	1951-11-25	Nov	1	—
Albert Rust	France	Goalkeeper	1953-10-10	Oct	1	—
Aldo Serena	Italy	Attacker	1960-06-25	Jun	1	—
Alejandro Domínguez	Mexico	Midfielder	1961-02-09	Feb	1	—
Aleksandar Markov	Bulgaria	Defender	1961-08-17	Aug	1	—
Aleksandr Bubnov	Soviet Union	Defender	1955-10-10	Oct	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