The captains who lifted the World Cup
From José Nasazzi in 1930 to Lionel Messi in 2022, lifting the trophy is the gesture that crowns a career. Some did it carrying records of their own.
There is one instant that sums up an entire World Cup: the captain holding the trophy above his head as a shower of confetti falls. It is a privilege reserved for very few, and behind each one lies a story.
The first was Uruguay's José Nasazzi, who in 1930 received in Montevideo the cup that did not yet bear the name of Jules Rimet. Ever since, the champions' armband has passed through legendary hands.
Some of those moments are seared into memory. In 1966, Bobby Moore was carried shoulder-high by his teammates with the cup at Wembley. In 1986, a Diego Maradona in a state of grace lifted it at the Azteca after an unrepeatable tournament. And in 2022, Lionel Messi closed the circle of his career by raising it in Qatar, wrapped in a bisht, in what many consider the greatest final in history.
Lifting it as the oldest has an Italian name. In 1982, Dino Zoff did so at 40, in an iconic image alongside President Sandro Pertini; he remains the oldest title-winning captain. Others tied their names to a whole generation: Lothar Matthäus in 1990, Cafu in 2002, Fabio Cannavaro in 2006, Iker Casillas in 2010 or Hugo Lloris in 2018.
Not every title-winning captain was his team's biggest star, and that is part of the charm: the armband rewards leadership as much as talent. Carrying the responsibility of a dressing room for a month and ending with the trophy in your hands is a very concrete form of greatness.
In 2026, someone will repeat that gesture in front of tens of thousands of people. We do not yet know their name, but we do know they will join a list that began to be written almost a century ago.
Source: Wikipedia (FIFA World Cup; José Nasazzi; Dino Zoff; Bobby Moore; Lionel Messi).