5 Teenagers who took the World Cup by storm

#3 Jose Altafini (1958)

Brazil's loss but Serie A's gain

One of the most talented Brazilian footballers of his generation, Jose Altafini, better known as ‘Mazzola’, was one of the young stars of the 1958 winning team that included a 17-year old Pele.

Mazzola set the tournament alight as the then 19-year old ripped apart the Austrian defence in the opening game, helping himself to a brace in the process. A minor injury put his World cup in jeopardy but the forward came back stronger as he assisted Pele in a 1-0 victory over Wales in the quarterfinals.

Scintillating performances from Vava and Pele meant that Altafini had to watch on from the bench as Brazil lifted their first ever Jules Rimet trophy.

After the World cup, Altafini joined AC Milan, enjoying extraordinary success and he currently stands as the joint 4th top scorer in Serie a history.

Altafini’s ventures abroad meant his Selecao career was cut short as Brazil at the time, never called up players based overseas. Altafini instead represented Italy at the 1962 world cup, which ended in a disappointment as they crashed out in the first round.

Surprisingly, Mazzola never received an international call-up thereafter.