The World Cup of Masters, also known as the Pelé World Cup and Mundial de Seniors was an event that ran every two years from 1987 until 1995. The tournament was for senior (35+) players and it was under the rules of the IMFA (International Master Football Association), presided by Julio Mazzei at the time. In 1990 the term "seniors" was replaced by "masters". The editions until 1991 were organized by Brazilian TV station Bandeirantes, and the International Masters Football Association. Most of the teams participated used to play masters games on a regular basis and kept the quality of football on a competitive level. Brazil Masters team, which won the 1989 event and finished second to Argentina in 1987. There were two exceptions to FIFA rules: players must be 34-and-over, and teams were allowed five substitutions instead of two. Teams were awarded two points for a win, one point for a tie and no points for a loss in group play. Semifinal, third-place and championship matches would be decided by penalty kicks if tied at the end of regulation time.Pelé World Cup
on the RSSSF

International Master Football Association

IMFA after consultation with FIFA's general secretary Sepp Blatter took initiative to organise the tournaments for legendary veteran players in an attempt to bring back a glimpse of the previous glorious World Cups. Julio Mazzei as a president of IMFA played a major part, while assisted by vice-president and England representative Sandra Roberts and German Werner Treimetten.

World Cup Legends

Legends of the game participated in the tournaments reviving somehow the FIFA World Cups of the previous years. Pelé was a starter for Brazil in the opening game of the 1987 tournament, while Zico played a key role in Brazil's winning performance in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

. Other players played in the World Cups of Masters were

Mario Kempes Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, he finished as La Liga's top goalscorer twice with Valencia and amassed 11 ...

Klaus Allofs Klaus Allofs (born 5 December 1956) is a German former professional football player, manager, and executive. A striker, Allofs was a prolific goalscorer for club and country. He amassed Bundesliga totals of 424 games and 177 goals over the co ...

, Gerd Müller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and

Horst Hrubesch Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Hamburger SV. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as well as the European C ...

Paolo Rossi Paolo Rossi (; 23 September 1956 – 9 December 2020) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a forward. He led Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup title, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot as top goalscorer, and the Golden ...

and

Alessandro Altobelli Alessandro Altobelli (; born 28 November 1955) is a former professional Italian footballer who played as a forward, and who won the 1982 World Cup with Italy. Nicknamed ''Spillo'' ("Needle") for his slender build, Altobelli was a prolific goal ...

were crowned World Champions for the second time in their career in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

after having already won the 1982 FIFA World Cup. This time it was not

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in the final but

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

who co-hosted the tournament with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The latter presented some great players in the tournaments like

Hans Krankl Johann "Hans" Krankl (; born 14 February 1953) is a retired Austrian footballer. A prolific striker, Krankl is regarded by many as one of Austria's greatest players. Club career Krankl started his professional career at Rapid Wien and stayed ...

Herbert Prohaska Herbert Prohaska (; born 8 August 1955) is an Austrian former professional footballer. He ranks among Austria's greatest football players of all time. Prohaska works as a football pundit for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ( ORF). His nick ...

and

Walter Schachner Walter "Schoko" Schachner (born 1 February 1957) is a football manager and former player, who played as a forward. He made 64 appearances scoring 23 goals for the Austria national team. As he always brought chocolate to the games when he was ...

. Other big names of the world football fielded in the tournament were

Paul Breitner Paul Breitner (born 5 September 1951) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and left-back. Considered one of the best players of his era, Breitner was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team, and was named by Pel ...

José Altafini José João Altafini (; born 24 July 1938), also known as "Mazzola" in Brazil (as when he started to play it was noted that he resembled the Italian legend Valentino Mazzola), is an Italian-Brazilian former footballer, who played as a forward. ...

Bruno Conti Bruno Conti (; born 13 March 1955) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently head of A.S. Roma's youth sector. Throughout his playing career, Conti was usually deployed as a winger, and also previously played for Roma, ...

Harald Schumacher Harald Anton "Toni" Schumacher (born 6 March 1954) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. At club level, he won a Bundesliga title and three DFB-Pokal titles with 1. FC Köln. At international level, he represent ...

Hans-Peter Briegel Hans-Peter Briegel (born 11 October 1955) is a German former professional football player and manager who played as a defender or midfielder. One of the most popular German players in his days, Briegel's original sport was athletics, being succ ...

Klaus Augenthaler Klaus "Auge" Augenthaler (born 26 September 1957) is a German former professional football player and manager. A defender, he won seven Bundesliga titles in his 15-year club career with Bayern Munich. He also represented the West Germany nat ...

Jairzinho Jair Ventura Filho (born 25 December 1944), better known as Jairzinho (), is a Brazilian former footballer. A quick, skillful, and powerful right winger known for his finishing ability and eye for goal, he was a key member and top scorer of th ...

Enrico Albertosi Enrico "Ricky" Albertosi (; born 2 November 1939) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest ever goalkeepers, he had a successful club career, winning titles with Fiorentina, Cagliari, and Mi ...

Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with sty ...

Rivelino Roberto Rivellino (also Rivelino, ; ; born 1 January 1946) is a Brazilian football pundit and retired footballer. He was one of the stars of Brazil's 1970 FIFA World Cup winning team. Rivellino currently works as a pundit for Brazilian TV Cultur ...

, Bobby Moore,

Frank Worthington Frank Stewart Worthington (23 November 1948 – 22 March 2021) was an English footballer who played as a forward. Worthington was born into a footballing family in Shelf, near Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire. Both of his parents had pla ...

and

René van de Kerkhof Reinier Lambertus van de Kerkhof (; born 16 September 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger for FC Twente, PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands national team. Career Van de Kerkhof and his twin brother Wil ...

. Luciano do Valle won 4 trophies with Brazil but

Enzo Bearzot Enzo Bearzot (; 26 September 1927 – 21 December 2010) was an Italian professional football player and manager. A defender and midfielder, he led the Italy national team to victory in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Nicknamed ''Vecio'' (standard I ...

proved to be the only coach won a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

as well.

Results

Finals

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Results by team

Most successful team was Brazil with 4 trophies, while Argentina won only 1 Cup and lost the

one to Brazil in penalties. Italy's squad of 1982 repeated the 1982 in

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Participating teams and results

Brazil and Argentina participated in the 6 tournaments facing each other in the final twice, in

which was the inaugural year and in

, the very last year of the Masters tournaments. Italy also had 6 participations winning the trophy once in the 1993 edition. {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - !width=160, Team !! Flag of Brazil

!!Total , - , align="left" , {{fb, Brazil , style="background:silver" , 2nd, , style="background:gold" , W, , style="background:gold" , W, , style="background:gold" , W, , style="background:#9acdff" , 4th, , style="background:gold" , W, , 6 , - , align="left", {{fb, Argentina , style="background:gold", W, , style="background:silver", 2nd, , style="background:#cc9966", 3rd, , style="background:silver", 2nd , , G, , style="background:silver", 2nd, , 6 , - , align="left", {{fb, Austria , –, , –, , –, , –, , style="background:silver", 2nd, , G, , 2 , - , align="left", {{fb, England , –, , –, , –, , G, , G, , –, , 2 , - , align="left", {{fb, France , –, , –, , –, , –, , –, , G, , 1 , - , align="left", {{fb, Germany , G, , G, , –, , G, , style="background:#cc9966", 3rd, , style="background:#cc9966", 3rd, , 5 , - , align="left", {{fb, Great Britain , –, , G, , –, , –, , –, , –, , 1 , - , align="left", {{fb, Italy , G, , G, , G, , style="background:#cc9966", 3rd , , style="background:gold", W, , style="background:#9acdff", 4th, , 6 , - , align="left", {{fb, Netherlands , –, , –, , style="background:silver", 2nd, , –, , G, , G, , , 3 , - , align="left", {{fb, Poland , –, , –, , G, , –, , –, , –, , 1 , - , align="left", {{fb, Portugal , –, , –, , –, , –, , –, , G, , 1 , - , align="left", {{fb, Uruguay , G, , style="background:silver", 2nd, , –, , style="background:#9acdff", 4th, , G, , –, , 4 , - W: winner.
G: eliminated in group stage.

Top scorers

Austrian

is the overall goalscorer with 8 goals, all scored in

. Brazilian Zico was the top scorer in

and

scoring a total of 6 goals in the Cups.

and

scored 2 goals each with

Rivellino Roberto Rivellino (also Rivelino, ; ; born 1 January 1946) is a Brazilian football pundit and retired footballer. He was one of the stars of Brazil's 1970 FIFA World Cup winning team. Rivellino currently works as a pundit for Brazilian TV Cult ...

having a total of 3 goals. Legendary Pele, at the age of 47, didn't manage to score though he played for 90 minutes in the opening 1987 match. {, class="wikitable" style=text-align:center , - !width=50px , Edition !width=, Golden Boot !width=, Goals , - ,

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Cláudio Adão Cláudio Adalberto Adão, or simply Cláudio Adão (born in Volta Redonda, 2 July 1955), is a former Brazilian football player. A gifted forward, Adão was the top-scorer of almost every championship he's played. His first professional club w ...

, 7 , - , rowspan=2,

, , align=left, {{flagicon, NED

Johnny Rep John Nicholaas Rep (born 25 November 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He holds the all-time record for FIFA World Cup goals for the Netherlands with 7. Playing career Rep played as a right-footed ...

, , rowspan=2, 4 , - , align=left, {{flagicon, POL

Lesław Ćmikiewicz Lesław Ćmikiewicz (born 25 August 1948 in Wrocław) is a retired Polish football player and manager. He played for Polish clubs including Śląsk Wrocław and Legia Warsaw. He also played for the New York Arrows and Chicago Horizon in the M ...

, - ,

, align=left, {{flagicon, BRA Zico , 3 , - ,

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, 8

Players with most participations

{, class="wikitable" !Player !Nationality !Participations !Editions , - , , Luís Pereira , , {{footyflag, Brazil , 5 , 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995 , - , , Amaral , , {{footyflag, Brazil , 5 , 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995 , - , ,

, , {{footyflag, Brazil , 5 , 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993 , - , , Wladimir , , {{footyflag, Brazil , 5 , 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995 , - , ,

Francesco Graziani Francesco "Ciccio" Graziani (; born 16 December 1952) is an Italian football manager and former football player who played as a forward. He began his career with Arezzo in 1970, and later joined Torino in 1973, where he remained until 1981 ...

, , {{footyflag, Italy , 4 , 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993 , - , ,

, , {{footyflag, Argentina , 4 , 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995 , - , , Edu , , {{footyflag, Brazil , 4 , 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993 , - , , Zenon de Souza Farias , , {{footyflag, Brazil , 4 , 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995 , - , , Cafuringa , , {{footyflag, Brazil , 4 , 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991 , - , ,

Jayme de Almeida Jayme de Almeida Filho (born 17 March 1953) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player. A retired centre-back, as a player he spent almost his entire club career with Flamengo. Playing career Jayme de Almeida was born in Rio ...

, , {{footyflag, Brazil , 3 , 1989, 1990, 1991 , - , ,

Batista Batista is a Spanish or Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player * Dave Bautista, American actor and professional wrestler, also known as Batista * Edina Alves Batis ...

, , {{footyflag, Brazil , 3 , 1989, 1990, 1991 , - , , Pablo Forlan , , {{footyflag, Uruguay , 3 , 1987, 1989, 1991 , - , ,

Fernando Morena Fernando Morena Belora (born 2 February 1952) is a Uruguayan former professional footballer who played as a striker. His most known nicknames were "Nando"(abridged form of Fernando) and "Potrillo" (Colt, although young stallion is a better tran ...

, , {{footyflag, Uruguay , 3 , 1987, 1989, 1991 , - , , Oscar Mas , , {{footyflag, Argentina , 3 , 1987, 1990, 1991 , - , ,

Francesco Morini Francesco Morini (; 12 August 1944 – 31 August 2021) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a defender. He competed for the Italy national team in the 1974 FIFA World Cup and earned a total of 11 caps. He played for clubs such ...

, , {{footyflag, Italy , 3 , 1987, 1989, 1990 , - , ,

Claudio Gentile Claudio Gentile (; born 27 September 1953) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender in the 1970s and 1980s. Gentile appeared for Italy in two World Cup tournaments, and played for the winning Italian team in ...

, , {{footyflag, Italy , 3 , 1990, 1991, 1993 , - , ,

Franco Causio Franco Causio (; born 1 February 1949) is an Italian former professional footballer who won the 1982 FIFA World Cup and played for Juventus for many years in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest ever wingers, through ...

, , {{footyflag, Italy , 3 , 1990, 1991, 1993 , - , ,

Wolfgang Kleff Wolfgang Kleff (born 16 November 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Kleff was born in Schwerte, North Rhine-Westphalia. He joined Borussia Mönchengladbach from amateur outfit VfL Schwerte, ...

, , {{footyflag, Germany , 3 , 1987, 1989, 1991 , -

References

{{reflist {{World Cup of Masters Defunct international association football competitions in South America Recurring sporting events established in 1987 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1995 Things named after Pelé

International Master Football Association

World Cup Legends

Results

Finals

Results by team

Participating teams and results

Top scorers

Players with most participations

See also

References