Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia Pereyra (; 22 December 1926 – 16 July 2015) was a Uruguayan

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, who played as a right winger. He achieved lasting fame for his decisive role in the final match of the 1950 World Cup, and at the time of his death exactly 65 years later, he was also the last surviving player of the Uruguay squad at the 1950 World Cup.

Career

Ghiggia's family was of Ticinese descent, originally from Sonvico. He played for the national sides of both

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

during his career. He also played for Peñarol and Danubio in Uruguay and A.S. Roma and A.C. Milan in Italy. In 1950, Ghiggia, then playing for Uruguay, scored the winning goal against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in the final match of that year's World Cup, advancing down the right wing and taking a low shot which slid right in the space between Brazilian goalkeeper Moacir Barbosa (who was anticipating a cross, like the one that originated Uruguay's earlier equaliser through Juan Alberto Schiaffino) and the left post. Roberto Muylaert compares the black and white film of the goal with Abraham Zapruder's chance images of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

: he says that the goal and the shot that killed the U.S. president have "the same dramatic pattern ... the same movement ... the same precision of an unstoppable trajectory. They even have the dust in common that was stirred up, here by a rifle and there by Ghiggia's left foot." The match is considered one of the biggest upsets in football history; Ghiggia would later remark that "only three people managed to silence the Maracanã:

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

, the Pope, and me." He managed Peñarol in 1980. On 29 December 2009, Brazil honoured Ghiggia by celebrating his decisive goal in the 1950 World Cup. Ghiggia returned to Maracanã Stadium almost 60 years later for this honour and planted his feet in a mould to take his place alongside greats including Brazil's

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

, Portugal's Eusébio and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer on the Maracanã's walk of fame. Ghiggia was very emotional and thanked Brazil for the warm reception and recognition he received even when the game is considered the most disappointing in Brazilian football history.

Later years

Ghiggia lived out his last years at his home in Las Piedras, Uruguay. He died on 16 July 2015 in a private hospital in Montevideo at the age of 88. Coincidentally, it was the 65th anniversary of the ''Maracanazo''. At the time of his death, Ghiggia was the oldest living World Cup champion. Ghiggia was the last surviving member from either the Brazilian or Uruguayan squads involved in the historic 1950 World Cup game.

Career Statistics

International

*''Ghiggia's team's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ghiggia goal.''

Honours

Club

;Peñarol * Primera División:

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

;Roma * Fairs Cup: 1960–61 ; Milan *

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

: 1961–62

International

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

Individual

* FIFA World Cup All-Star Team:

* Golden Foot: 2006 (as a

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

) * A.S. Roma Hall of Fame: 2014 * IFFHS Uruguayan Men's Dream Team (Team B)

References

External links

* * *
futbol.com.uy
!colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;", World Cup-winners status , - , style="width:25%; text-align:center;", Preceded by
Nílton Santos , style="width:50%; text-align:center;", Oldest Living Player
27 November 2013 – 16 July 2015 , style="width:25; text-align:center;", Succeeded by
Hans Schäfer {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghiggia, Alcides 1926 births 2015 deaths Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Uruguayan Primera División players Serie A players Peñarol players Danubio F.C. players AS Roma players AC Milan players Uruguay men's international footballers 1950 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players Dual internationalists (men's football) Uruguayan emigrants to Italy Uruguayan sportspeople of Italian descent Uruguayan people of Swiss-Italian descent Uruguayan football managers Peñarol managers Footballers from Montevideo Men's association football wingers Burials at Cementerio del Buceo, Montevideo 20th-century Italian sportsmen 20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen