ICONS: How the Cascao haircut changed everything for Ronaldo and Brazil at the 2002 World Cup

Brazilians have a peculiar way of finding humour even amid hardship. Despite endless social challenges, they’re still known as people who laugh. Yet the smiles after Brazil’s 2–1 comeback win over England in the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals didn’t last long.

Ronaldinho, the genius behind the improbable winning goal, would miss the semi-final due to a red card. But the real bad news concerned the other Ronaldo - the one and only Ronaldo of that era.

Brazil’s No.9 began feeling pain in his thigh during the first half against England and was substituted with 20 minutes to go. Even amid the post-game celebrations, he already knew the situation was serious.

"I want to see you get me ready for the next match. I want to see if you’re good," he told the team doctor, Jose Luiz Runco, in footage later shown in Ronaldo's documentary on Globoplay. It wasn’t a light-hearted challenge, more a plea from a man who’d been through hell before.

From the infamous seizure hours before the 1998 World Cup final to that demand in 2002, life had tested Ronaldo like few others. The toughest trial came in April 2000, during Inter’s Coppa Italia clash with Lazio, when he suffered a devastating injury to his right knee, tearing his tendon in his very first match back after five months of recovery. The image of Ronaldo crying on the turf became one of football’s most heart-breaking scenes.

The timeline of his injuries was alarming. In late 1998, inflammation in both knees sidelined Ronaldo for months. He returned in January 1999, but pain persisted, and in April he was ruled out for another eight weeks. A minor thigh strain followed in May, and then, in November of that year, came the partial rupture of his right knee tendon. When he finally returned in April 2000, it was only to suffer the complete rupture moments later.

By the time Luiz Felipe Scolari announced Brazil’s final squad for the 2002 World Cup, Ronaldo had played only 19 matches since that night in Rome, completing the full 90 minutes in just three of them. After nearly two years without football, he was to be thrown straight into the most intense competition on Earth. Only during that World Cup, against Costa Rica and Belgium, did he finally manage to play back-to-back full games again.

Though he tried to appear calm following the England game, Ronaldo wasn’t much of an actor. Reports from the time noted his unusual silence and serious expression,while both Scolari and Runco shared that same unease. There was good news when early scans revealed no muscle tear, and the absence of knee-related headlines brought a dose of optimism. Still, the tournament’s top scorer - tied with Rivaldo and Miroslav Klose on five goals - was in pain.

"Medicine isn’t an exact science. Each case is unique," Runco told O Globo amid that wave of anxiety. "I believe he’ll play, but I can’t guarantee it."

While his team-mates trained on the pitch, Ronaldo spent his days in physiotherapy, electrotherapy and cryotherapy as he did everything he could do to play.

His injury record was terrifying. Even his call-up had been a gamble, especially as Romario had been left out to national outcry. In the months leading up to the World Cup, Ronaldo had suffered five muscle injuries - all in his right thigh, and none had healed as quickly as the five days separating the win over England and the semi-final against Turkey.

"His injury worries us," Scolari admitted, "but I trust our medical team - and, more importantly, the player’s willpower. I don’t believe he’ll miss the semi-final. We need everyone now. If you’ve got half a leg, you play! Ronaldo knows Brazil needs him. He’s been a technical and emotional leader for this team."

Seeing Ronaldo smile again was the first good sign. During an interview with Japan’s Nippon TV on the eve of the semi-final, he declared he’d be ready to face Turkey: "I was more tired than the others, but in two or three days I’ll be fine. After all, I’ve played so many games in a short period. After two years without football, it’s been intense."

Runco’s tone was also lighter, but no one was truly relaxed. Imagine Ronaldo’s situation: years of meticulous preparation, only to be derailed by injury every time. Maybe, in a butterfly-effect kind of way, that’s why he decided to change his ritual.

"I always shaved my head before matches," Ronaldo recalled in his documentary. "This time, I left a patch. I walked down the hotel corridor… Everyone laughed, made jokes, teased me, saying I didn’t have the guts to show up for training like that."

Scolari, on the other hand, was furious. "'What’s that haircut?!' I was nervous, upset. 'Why do this now? What if it backfires? Did you ask my permission?’ I was p*ssed off!” he explained, years later, in the same film.

But the manager had other things to worry about. Ronaldo barely moved during the final training session and everyone who saw it, reported it. Could he really play? Doubt on one side, conviction on the other: Ronaldo was keeping the haircut.

"I can’t disappoint all the little kids who copied it," he said with a grin at a press conference.

The haircut was an instant hit. It dominated news cycles worldwide as fans and kids imitated it everywhere, while even Turkish midfielder Umit Davala’s mohawk drew 'hair duel' headlines.

Ronaldo has often talked about that haircut since, always downplaying any special or magical plan of his own. But he admitted it served a purpose, as it shifted attention away from his injury. 

"I was only at 60 percent, so I shaved my head. Everybody was only talking about my injury. When I arrived in training with this haircut everybody stopped talking about the injury" he told The Sun in 2017. Planned or not, that ridiculous tuft of hair brought the levity everyone needed.

If Ronaldo decided not to shave his head completely, the Turkish players had the opposite plan: They’d all go bald if they beat Brazil. The first half of that semi-final, though, was dreadful. Brazil were poor, and Ronaldo was the worst of them all. On Globo’s broadcast, commentator Walter Casagrande demanded his substitution, saying, "He’s a man down today."

Legendary Brazil coach Mario Zagallo later admitted: “At half-time, I also thought Ronaldo should come off. Everyone saw he wasn’t right."

And he wasn’t. But that’s the thing about geniuses, they find magic in misery. Ronaldo came out for the second half and, with the first chance he truly believed in, conjured a moment of brilliance.

"I couldn’t strike with the inside of my foot, it would’ve worsened the injury. So I saw the chance and hit it with my toe. Perfect,” he recalled in the documentary.

Brazil led. Out of pain came art, with one of Ronaldo’s most iconic goals. He was substituted in the 68th minute, and Brazil held on.

"I knew he’d play when I saw that haircut two days before," Scolari laughed after the match.

The Cascao haircut, named after one of Brazil's most famous cartoon characters, earned its eternal place in football lore that night. But one last step remained: the final.

World Cup finals are always tense, but for Ronaldo, the weight was immeasurable after 1998. This time, with a tuft instead of trauma, he delivered both goals in the 2-0 win over Germany, and Brazil’s fifth global title was secured.

Ronaldo finished as the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals and finally achieved redemption. That haircut, along with the canary-yellow jersey streaked with green, became a symbol of that triumph. He kept that hair for months after the final, reluctant to let go of its magic.

Even today, when Brazilians think of Ronaldo and the Penta, they think of that infamous haircut - absurd, unforgettable, and forever legendary.