The Cascão haircut that reshaped Ronaldo’s 2002 World Cup

February 6, 2026 Oliver Obel

World Cups are remembered through images as much as goals. Diego Maradona’s curls in 1986. Zinedine Zidane’s shaved head in 1998. In 2002, Brazil’s triumph became tied to something far less heroic-looking: Ronaldo Nazário’s half-shaved haircut, awkward, mocked and impossible to ignore.

What began as a joke quickly took on meaning. It cut through tension, redirected attention and ended up framing one of football’s most unlikely comebacks.

A career already lived twice

By the time Brazil arrived in Japan and South Korea, Ronaldo’s story felt unusually long for a 25-year-old. He had burst through at Cruzeiro and PSV, then stunned Europe at Barcelona with a blend of speed and strength that defenders struggled to comprehend.

At Inter, he reached his physical peak and then lost it. Severe knee injuries between 1999 and 2000 repeatedly halted his career, leaving some of the most painful images of the era. When Brazil announced their squad for the 2002 World Cup, doubts followed immediately.

As GOAL reported at the time, Ronaldo entered the tournament having completed very few full matches in the previous two years. His selection was a gamble, especially with Romário left out.

England, relief and fear

Brazil’s quarter-final win over England should have eased nerves. Instead, it created new ones. Ronaldo felt pain in his thigh during the match and was substituted, already aware of what it might mean.

“I want to see you get me ready for the next match. I want to see if you’re good,” he told team doctor José Luiz Runco, according to footage later shown in his Globoplay documentary.

Given his history, concern was unavoidable. Ronaldo knew better than anyone how quickly a tournament or a career could unravel.

Trust, risk and “half a leg”

Medical tests showed no muscle tear, but uncertainty remained. While teammates trained, Ronaldo spent his days in treatment.

“Medicine isn’t an exact science. Each case is unique,” Runco told O Globo. “I believe he’ll play, but I can’t guarantee it.”

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari accepted the risk. “If you’ve got half a leg, you play!” he said, arguing that Ronaldo’s influence went beyond fitness alone.

A haircut that changed the conversation

On the eve of the semi-final against Turkey, Ronaldo appeared more relaxed. “I was more tired than the others, but in two or three days I’ll be fine,” he told Japan’s Nippon TV.

Then came the haircut.

“I always shaved my head before matches,” Ronaldo later explained. “This time, I left a patch.”

Scolari did not appreciate the timing. “‘What’s that haircut?!’ I was nervous… I was p*ssed off!” he recalled in the same documentary. Ronaldo stuck with it. “I can’t disappoint all the little kids who copied it,” he said, smiling.

The look later nicknamed the Cascão, after a Brazilian cartoon character spread instantly. Newspapers, television shows and schoolyards fixated on it. Years later, Ronaldo acknowledged it had served a practical purpose. “Everybody was only talking about my injury,” he told The Sun in 2017. “When I arrived in training with this haircut, everybody stopped talking about the injury.”

Pain, doubt and genius

The semi-final itself offered little reassurance. Ronaldo struggled, prompting commentator Walter Casagrande to remark on Globo’s broadcast: “He’s a man down today.”

Then, briefly, everything aligned.

“I couldn’t strike with the inside of my foot, it would’ve worsened the injury,” Ronaldo later said. “So I saw the chance and hit it with my toe. Perfect.”

Brazil advanced. The tension eased, if only slightly.

The image that endured

The final against Germany completed the story. Ronaldo scored twice, Brazil won their fifth World Cup, and the questions that had followed him for four years finally faded.

After the tournament, the goals were replayed endlessly. So was the haircut. Ronaldo kept it for months, long after the final whistle, even as teammates and fans laughed about it.

It wasn’t stylish, and it wasn’t planned. But for many Brazilians, it became inseparable from the Penta a reminder that redemption doesn’t always arrive looking the way you expect.

Sources: GOAL, O Globo, Globoplay, The Sun