4 November: Figo, the transfer that split El Clásico
Luís Figo
«the man who crossed the divide»
- Sporting Clube de Portugal 1989-1995 · 16 goals
- Fútbol Club Barcelona 1995-2000 · 30 goals
- Real Madrid Club de Fútbol 2000-2005 · 38 goals
- Inter de Milán 2005-2009 · 9 goals
Captain at the Camp Nou
He came out of Sporting Lisbon and in 1995 joined Cruyff's Barcelona. Under Robson and Van Gaal he became the team's leader: dribbling, crossing and character. He won two league titles and the 1997 Cup Winners' Cup and became one of the captains. The fans adored him.
July 2000
In Real Madrid's 2000 presidential election, one of the candidates, Florentino Pérez, promised to sign Figo if he won. He won. Madrid paid the ten billion pesetas of his release clause, the most expensive transfer in the world at the time, and Figo crossed the divide in mid-summer.
In Barcelona it was felt as a betrayal. On his return to the Camp Nou everything rained down on him, and in the Clásico of November 2002 someone in the stands threw, among other things, a pig's head. The game was held up for several minutes.
Madrid and Portugal
At Madrid he won the Ballon d'Or, two league titles and the 2002 Champions League, the one with Zidane's volley in Glasgow. With Portugal he lost the Euro 2004 final at home and finished fourth at the 2006 World Cup. He retired at Inter, with four scudetti.
Also born on 4 November
Achraf Hakimi, the penalty in Doha
Born in Madrid to Moroccan parents and developed in Real Madrid's academy. He chose to play for Morocco, and in the last sixteen of the World Cup in Qatar against Spain the decisive penalty of the shoot-out fell to him. He chipped it, Panenka-style, softly down the middle. Morocco finished fourth, the best showing ever by an African side at a World Cup. With PSG he won the 2025 Champions League.
- Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol 2016-2017 · 1 goals
- Real Madrid Club de Fútbol 2017-2020 · 2 goals
- Borussia Dortmund 2018-2020 · 7 goals
- Inter de Milán 2020-2021 · 7 goals
- Paris Saint-Germain FC since 2021 · 19 goals
Another 36 internationally known footballers were born on this day. We do not list them for the sake of it: only those with a story to tell make it here.
📅 The almanac: pick any date
Every day of the year has its story. Highlighted days are already out: click to see who was born or what happened on that date. The faded ones go live on their day, at midnight (Spain time). 49 published.
Football almanac · Elopi23
January
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February
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March
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April
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May
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June
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July
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August
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September14 ★
- 11 September: Ruud Gullit
- 1111 September: Franz Beckenbauer
- 1818 September: Ronaldo
- 2020 September: Henrik Larsson
- 2121 September: Sándor Kocsis
- 2222 September: Thiago Silva
- 2323 September: Quini
- 2424 September: Marco Tardelli
- 2525 September: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
- 2626 September: Michael Ballack
- 2727 September: Francesco Totti
- 2828 September: Javi Poves
- 2929 September: Andriy Shevchenko
- 3030 September: Frank Rijkaard
October31 ★
- 11 October: George Weah
- 22 October: Alisson Becker · Roberto Firmino
- 33 October: Zlatan Ibrahimović
- 44 October: Jorge Valdano
- 55 October: Kopa, Rial, Di Stéfano, Puskás and Gento
- 66 October: Bruce Grobbelaar
- 77 October: Diego Costa
- 88 October: Zvonimir Boban
- 99 October: Gheorghe Popescu
- 1010 October: Tony Adams
- 1111 October: Bobby Charlton
- 1212 October: Cristhian Stuani
- 1313 October: Raymond Kopa
- 1414 October: Matt Le Tissier
- 1515 October: Didier Deschamps
- 1616 October: Paulo Roberto Falcão
- 1717 October: Sergio Goycochea
- 1818 October: Julio Olarticoechea
- 1919 October: Gunnar Nordahl
- 2020 October: Claudio Ranieri
- 2121 October: Paco Gento
- 2222 October: Lev Yashin
- 2323 October: Pelé
- 2424 October: Wayne Rooney
- 2525 October: Francisco Sá
- 2626 October: The founding of the Football Association
- 2727 October: Sebastián Abreu
- 2828 October: Garrincha
- 2929 October: Edwin van der Sar
- 3030 October: Diego Armando Maradona
- 3131 October: Marco van Basten
November4 ★
December
Nothing from this month is out yet. One goes live each day, on its own date.
★ published · ✎ written, waiting for their day · the red circle is today
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Dates, clubs, individual awards and photos come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, under free licences, and update themselves. Ages are not written anywhere: they are calculated the moment you open the page, so this page always shows the right age, this year and twenty years from now. If any of these players signs for another club or wins an award, their profile picks it up on its own. What is written by hand is the story and the judgement: who the day belongs to, and why.