This 91-year-old broadcaster has been to every World Cup since 1958: Here's his five favourite players

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Martin Macdonald | Author

Enrique Macaya Marquez is one of the most celebrated football broadcasters of all time.

At 91-years-old, he has attended every World Cup since the 1958 edition of the tournament in Sweden and will be present in North America for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

He has been around for all the greats, from Pele to Lionel Messi, but, as an Argentine, there is a special place in his heart for Diego Maradona and he was actually invited to the icon's wedding in 1989.

“Argentina had a friendly in Japan and I became aware that Maradona and the players did not want to travel,” Macaya Márquez told the Guardian in 2022.

“I said into the camera that they had to go. Maradona was on the show and he said that Macaya Márquez knows nothing, nada, nada. Because when Maradona got home, he did not even have the strength to lift his children, he was so tired.

“The truth was that he and the players were out partying. I never asked about that sort of thing. My job was to analyse the games. But I told Maradona that they had to train more and train harder. Then maybe he would have the power to lift his kids.

“Maradona did not agree. But afterwards he realised that I had a point. So he asked me for a coffee and he got a TV crew along to film him apologising to me. It was special.

“Maradona used to tell me that, when he became a manager, he would take me as his assistant coach."

Though he is best known for presenting Futbol de Primera in the 1990s in Argentina, he started off as a radio broadcaster and at 23-years-old he was sent to cover the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

As a youngster, he had a paper round in his neighbourhood in Buenos Aires and that neighbourhood just happened to be shared with one Alfredo Di Stefano.

“Di Stefano lived there, too,” he said. “He was seven, eight years older than me but we played football together at his house. We were friends. Di Stéfano would come to my newspaper kiosk and I’d let him read for free.”

There is perhaps nobody better qualified than Macaya Marquez when it comes to naming the best players ever to grace the game as he has seen the vast majority in the flesh.

When asked to name his top five, he said:

“For me, he [Di Stefano] was the best player of them all,” he explained.

“Although I suppose it depends on the era. I saw Johan Cruyff as being like Di Stefano … So, Di Stéfano, Pele, [Johan] Cruyff, Maradona, Messi. On that timeline. They are the top five.”

Remarkably, Macaya Marquez never got to see his compatriot Di Stefano play at a World Cup. The Real Madrid legend actually made appearances for three nations in his career, Spain, Argentina and Colombia but never made an appearance at the World Cup.

When he played for Colombia, the team was not recognised by FIFA as the league had broken transfer rules by signing players while still under contract.