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

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'50s

'60s

'70s

'80s

'90s

'00s

'10s

'20s

1,264

Players in window

Teams

22.6

Avg squad size

Tournaments

1986, 2018

Squads by position

Players in the selected window, split by role

GET /aggregates/players?years=1986,2018

By confederation

Where the players come from

GET /aggregates/players?years=1986,2018

Hemisphere split

Northern vs Southern hemisphere national teams

Northern1,061 (83.9%)

Southern203 (16.1%)

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 — 23 players (13.9%). Range: 7—23.

Defenders

Birth-month distribution + 2 GOAT markers

Franz Beckenbauer· Sep

Fabio Cannavaro· Sep

Modal month: Mar — 46 players (11.1%). Range: 24—46.

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 — 48 players (11.7%). Range: 19—48.

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 — 29 players (10.5%). Range: 13—29.

All players

Every player from the 1986, 2018 squads. Search by name or filter by country, position, birth year or birth month. The C badge marks captains.

NameCountryPositionBirth yearBirth month

1,263 / 1,263

Player	Country	Position	DOB	Birth month	WCs	Goals
Gary Lineker	England	Attacker	1960-11-30	Nov	1	6
Harry KaneC	England	Attacker	1993-07-28	Jul	1	6
Careca	Brazil	Attacker	1960-10-05	Oct	1	5
Denis Cheryshev	Russia	Midfielder	1990-12-26	Dec	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
Antoine Griezmann	France	Attacker	1991-03-21	Mar	1	4
Cristiano RonaldoC	Portugal	Attacker	1985-02-05	Feb	1	4
Ihor Belanov	Soviet Union	Midfielder	1960-09-25	Sep	1	4
Jorge Valdano	Argentina	Attacker	1955-10-04	Oct	1	4
Kylian Mbappé	France	Attacker	1998-12-20	Dec	1	4
Mario Mandžukić	Croatia	Attacker	1986-05-21	May	1	4
Preben Elkjær	Denmark	Attacker	1957-09-11	Sep	1	4
Romelu Lukaku	Belgium	Attacker	1993-05-13	May	1	4
Artem Dzyuba	Russia	Attacker	1988-08-22	Aug	1	3
Diego Costa	Spain	Attacker	1988-10-07	Oct	1	3
Eden HazardC	Belgium	Attacker	1991-01-07	Jan	1	3
Edinson Cavani	Uruguay	Attacker	1987-02-14	Feb	1	3
Ivan Perišić	Croatia	Attacker	1989-02-02	Feb	1	3
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
Yerry Mina	Colombia	Defender	1994-09-23	Sep	1	3
Abderrazak Khairi	Morocco	Attacker	1962-11-20	Nov	1	2
Ahmed Musa	Nigeria	Attacker	1992-10-14	Oct	1	2
Andreas GranqvistC	Sweden	Defender	1985-04-16	Apr	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
John Stones	England	Defender	1994-05-28	May	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
Luis Suárez	Uruguay	Attacker	1987-01-24	Jan	1	2
Luka ModrićC	Croatia	Midfielder	1985-09-09	Sep	1	2
Michel PlatiniC	France	Midfielder	1955-06-21	Jun	1	2
Mile JedinakC	Australia	Midfielder	1984-08-03	Aug	1	2
Mohamed Salah	Egypt	Attacker	1992-06-15	Jun	1	2
Neymar	Brazil	Attacker	1992-02-05	Feb	1	2
Philippe Coutinho	Brazil	Midfielder	1992-06-12	Jun	1	2
Ramón Calderé	Spain	Midfielder	1959-01-16	Jan	1	2
Roberto Cabañas	Paraguay	Attacker	1961-04-11	Apr	1	2
Sergio Agüero	Argentina	Attacker	1988-06-02	Jun	1	2
Sócrates	Brazil	Midfielder	1954-02-19	Feb	1	2
Son Heung-min	South Korea	Attacker	1992-07-08	Jul	1	2
Takashi Inui	Japan	Midfielder	1988-06-02	Jun	1	2
Wahbi Khazri	Tunisia	Attacker	1991-02-08	Feb	1	2
Yannick Stopyra	France	Attacker	1961-01-09	Jan	1	2
Javier Hernández	Mexico	Midfielder	1961-08-01	Aug	2	1
Abdelkrim Merry "Krimau"	Morocco	Attacker	1955-01-13	Jan	1	1
Adnan Januzaj	Belgium	Attacker	1995-02-05	Feb	1	1
Ahmed Fathy	Egypt	Defender	1984-11-10	Nov	1	1
Ahmed Radhi	Iraq	Attacker	1964-03-21	Mar	1	1
Aleksandar KolarovC	Serbia	Defender	1985-11-10	Nov	1	1
Aleksandar Mitrović	Serbia	Attacker	1994-09-16	Sep	1	1
Aleksandr Golovin	Russia	Midfielder	1996-05-30	May	1	1
Alfreð Finnbogason	Iceland	Attacker	1989-02-01	Feb	1	1
Andoni Goikoetxea	Spain	Defender	1956-08-23	Aug	1	1
André Carrillo	Peru	Attacker	1991-06-14	Jun	1	1
Andreas Brehme	West Germany	Defender	1960-11-09	Nov	1	1
Andrej Kramarić	Croatia	Attacker	1991-06-19	Jun	1	1
Ángel Di María	Argentina	Midfielder	1988-02-14	Feb	1	1
Ante Rebić	Croatia	Attacker	1993-09-21	Sep	1	1
Antonio Alzamendi	Uruguay	Attacker	1956-06-07	Jun	1	1
Aziz Behich	Australia	Defender	1990-12-16	Dec	1	1
Aziz Bouhaddouz	Morocco	Attacker	1987-03-30	Mar	1	1
Benjamin Pavard	France	Defender	1996-03-28	Mar	1	1
Bernard Genghini	France	Midfielder	1958-01-18	Jan	1	1
Blerim Džemaili	Switzerland	Midfielder	1986-04-12	Apr	1	1
Carlos Manuel	Portugal	Midfielder	1958-01-15	Jan	1	1
Carlos Vela	Mexico	Attacker	1989-03-01	Mar	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
Christian Eriksen	Denmark	Midfielder	1992-02-14	Feb	1	1
Colin Clarke	Northern Ireland	Attacker	1962-10-30	Oct	1	1
Daniel Veyt	Belgium	Attacker	1956-12-09	Dec	1	1
Dele Alli	England	Midfielder	1996-04-11	Apr	1	1
Diamantino	Portugal	Midfielder	1959-08-03	Aug	1	1
Djamel Zidane	Algeria	Attacker	1955-04-28	Apr	1	1
Domagoj Vida	Croatia	Defender	1989-04-29	Apr	1	1
Dominique Rocheteau	France	Attacker	1955-01-14	Jan	1	1
Dries Mertens	Belgium	Attacker	1987-05-06	May	1	1
Dylan Bronn	Tunisia	Defender	1995-06-19	Jun	1	1
EdinhoC	Brazil	Defender	1955-06-05	Jun	1	1
Edson Álvarez	Mexico	Defender	1997-10-24	Oct	1	1
Eloy	Spain	Attacker	1964-07-10	Jul	1	1
Emil Forsberg	Sweden	Midfielder	1991-10-23	Oct	1	1
Enzo Francescoli	Uruguay	Attacker	1961-11-12	Nov	1	1
Erwin Vandenbergh	Belgium	Attacker	1959-01-26	Jan	1	1
Fakhreddine Ben Youssef	Tunisia	Attacker	1991-06-23	Jun	1	1
Felipe BaloyC	Panama	Defender	1981-02-24	Feb	1	1
Ferjani Sassi	Tunisia	Midfielder	1992-03-18	Mar	1	1
Fernandinho	Brazil	Midfielder	1985-05-04	May	1	1
Franky Vercauteren	Belgium	Midfielder	1956-10-28	Oct	1	1
Gabriel Mercado	Argentina	Defender	1987-03-18	Mar	1	1
Genki Haraguchi	Japan	Midfielder	1991-05-09	May	1	1
Gordon Strachan	Scotland	Midfielder	1957-02-09	Feb	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