Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who played as a
forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century. His 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which includes
friendlies, is recognised as a
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
.
In 1999, he was named Athlete of the Century by the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
and was included in the ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' list of the
100 most important people of the 20th century. In 2000, Pelé was voted
World Player of the Century by the
International Federation of Football History & Statistics
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
(IFFHS) and was one of the two joint winners of the
FIFA Player of the Century
FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of ...
, alongside
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...
.
Pelé began playing for
Santos at age 15 and the
Brazil national team at 16. During his international career, he won three
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
s:
1958,
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
and
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
, the only player to do so and the youngest player to win a World Cup (17). He was nicknamed (The King) following the 1958 tournament. With 77 goals in 92 games for Brazil, Pelé held the record as the
national team's top goalscorer for over fifty years. At club level, he is Santos's
all-time top goalscorer with 643 goals in 659 games. In a
golden era for Santos, he led the club to the
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
and
1963 Copa Libertadores
The 1963 Copa de Campeones de América was the fourth season of South America's premier club football tournament. Nine teams entered with Bolivia and Venezuela not sending a representative.
This competition was notable for the participation of ma ...
, and to the
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
and
1963 Intercontinental Cup. Credited with connecting the phrase "
The Beautiful Game" with football, Pelé's "electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals" made him a global star, and his teams toured internationally to take full advantage of his popularity.
During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world. After retiring in 1977, Pelé was a worldwide ambassador for football and made many acting and commercial ventures. In 2010, he was named the honorary president of the
New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to
* New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada)
* New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...
.
Pelé averaged almost a goal per game throughout his career and could strike the ball with either foot, as well as being able to anticipate his opponents' movements. While predominantly a striker, he could also be a
playmaker
In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...
, providing assists with his vision and passing ability. He would often use his
dribbling
In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score.
As ...
skills to go past opponents. In Brazil, he was hailed as a national hero for his accomplishments in football and for his outspoken support of policies that improve the social conditions of the poor. His emergence at the 1958 World Cup, where he became a black global sporting star, was a source of inspiration.
Throughout his career and in his retirement, Pelé received numerous individual and team awards for his performance on the field, his record-breaking achievements, and his legacy in the sport.
Early years
Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on 23 October 1940 in
Três Corações, Minas Gerais, the son of
Fluminense footballer
Dondinho (born João Ramos do Nascimento) and Celeste Arantes (1922–2024). He was the elder of two siblings, with brother
Zoca also playing for Santos, albeit not as successfully. He was named after the American inventor
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...
. His parents decided to remove the "i" and call him "Edson", but there was a
typo on his birth certificate, leading many documents to show his name as "Edison", not "Edson", as he was called.
He was originally nicknamed "Dico" by his family.
He received the nickname "Pelé" during his school days, it is claimed, after mispronouncing the name of his favourite player,
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea.
Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...
goalkeeper Bilé. In his autobiography released in 2006, Pelé stated he had no idea what the name means, nor did his old friends, and the word has no meaning in Portuguese. He would later learn it means "miracle" () in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
.
Pelé grew up in poverty in
Bauru in the state of
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. He earned extra money by working in tea shops as a servant. Taught to play by his father, he could not afford a proper football and usually played with either a sock stuffed with newspaper and tied with string or a grapefruit.
He played for several amateur teams in his youth, including ''Sete de Setembro'', ''Canto do Rio'', ''São Paulinho'', and ''Ameriquinha''. Pelé led ''
Bauru Atlético Clube'' juniors (coached by
Waldemar de Brito) to two
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
state youth championships. In his mid-teens, he played for an indoor football team called Radium. Indoor football had just become popular in Bauru when Pelé began playing it. He was part of the first
futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...
(indoor football) competition in the region. Pelé and his team won the first championship and several others.
According to Pelé, futsal (indoor football) presented difficult challenges: he said it was a lot quicker than football on the grass, and that players were required to think faster because everyone is close to each other in the pitch. Pelé credits futsal for helping him think better on the spot. In addition, futsal allowed him to play with adults when he was about 14 years old. In one of the tournaments he participated in, he was initially considered too young to play, but eventually went on to end up top scorer with 14 or 15 goals. "That gave me a lot of confidence", Pelé said, "I knew then not to be afraid of whatever might come".
Club career
Santos
1956–1962: early years with Santos and declared a national treasure

In 1956, de Brito took Pelé to
Santos, an industrial and port city located near São Paulo, to try out for professional club
Santos FC
Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...
, telling the club's directors that the 15-year-old would be "the greatest football player in the world". Pelé impressed Santos coach
Lula during his trial at the
Estádio Vila Belmiro, and he signed a professional contract with the club in June 1956. Pelé was highly promoted in the local media as a future superstar. He made his senior team debut on 7 September 1956 at the age of 15 against
Corinthians de Santo André and had an impressive performance in a 7–1 victory, scoring the first goal in his prolific career during the match.
When the 1957 season started, Pelé was given a starting place in the first team and, at the age of 16, became the top scorer in the league. Ten months after signing professionally, the teenager was called up to the
Brazil national team. After the
1958 and the
1962 World Cup, wealthy European clubs, such as
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
,
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
and
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
, tried to sign him in vain. In 1958,
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
even managed to get him a regular contract, but
Angelo Moratti was forced to tear the contract up at the request of Santos's chairman following a revolt by Santos's Brazilian fans.
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...
also arranged an agreement that would have brought Pelé to the club after the 1958 World Cup, however after his performances at the tournament, Santos declined to let the player leave. In 1961 the
government of Brazil under President
Jânio Quadros
Jânio da Silva Quadros (; 25 January 1917 – 16 February 1992) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd president of Brazil from 31 January to 25 August 1961, when he resigned from office. He also served as the 24th a ...
declared Pelé an "official national treasure" to prevent him from being transferred out of the country.
Pelé won his first major title with Santos in 1958 as the team won the
Campeonato Paulista
The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...
; he would finish the tournament as the top scorer, with 58 goals, a record that still stands today. A year later, he would help the team earn their first victory in the
Torneio Rio-São Paulo with a 3–0 over Vasco da Gama. However, Santos was unable to retain the Paulista title. In 1960, Pelé scored 33 goals to help his team regain the Campeonato Paulista trophy but lost out on the Rio-São Paulo tournament after finishing in 8th place. In the 1960 season, Pelé scored 47 goals and helped Santos regain the Campeonato Paulista. The club went on to win the
Taça Brasil
The Taça Brasil () was the Brazilian national football championship contested from 1959 to 1968.
Bahia, Cruzeiro and Botafogo were the only champions to have played all phases of the tournament, because until the 1968 edition teams from Rio de ...
that same year, beating
Bahia
Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...
in the finals; Pelé finished as the top scorer of the tournament with nine goals. The victory allowed Santos to participate in the
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
, the most prestigious club tournament in the Western hemisphere.
1962–1965: Copa Libertadores success
Santos's most successful Copa Libertadores season started in
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
; the team was seeded in Group One alongside
Cerro Porteño
Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan Association football, football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero (Asunción), Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Paraguayan Primera División, Primera División titles ...
and Deportivo Municipal Bolivia, winning every match of their group but one (a 1–1 away tie versus Cerro). Santos defeated Universidad Católica in the semi-finals and met
defending champions Peñarol
Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football.
The nam ...
in the finals. Pelé scored twice in the playoff match to secure the first title for a Brazilian club.
Pelé finished as the second top scorer of the competition with four goals. That same year, Santos would successfully defend the Campeonato Paulista (with 37 goals from Pelé) and the Taça Brasil (Pelé scoring four goals in the final series against Botafogo). Santos would also win the
1962 Intercontinental Cup against
Benfica.
["Intercontinental Cups 1962 and 1963"](_blank)
FIFA. 15 January 2015 Wearing his
number 10 shirt, Pelé produced one of the best performances of his career, scoring a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
in Lisbon as Santos won 5–2.
Pelé states that his most memorable goal was scored at the
Estádio Rua Javari on a Campeonato Paulista match against São Paulo rival
Clube Atlético Juventus
Clube Atlético Juventus (Latin for ''Youth''), commonly referred to as Juventus da Mooca or simply Juventus, is a Brazilian professional football club in the district of Mooca, São Paulo, that competes in Campeonato Paulista Série A2, the s ...
on 2 August 1959. As there is no video footage of this match, Pelé asked that a computer animation be made of this specific goal. In March 1961, Pelé scored the ''gol de placa'' (goal worthy of a plaque), against
Fluminense at the Maracanã.
Pelé received the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, and ran the length of the field, eluding opposition players with
feints, before striking the ball beyond the goalkeeper.
A plaque was commissioned with a dedication to "the most beautiful goal in the history of the Maracanã".
As the defending champions, Santos qualified automatically to the semi-final stage of the
1963 Copa Libertadores
The 1963 Copa de Campeones de América was the fourth season of South America's premier club football tournament. Nine teams entered with Bolivia and Venezuela not sending a representative.
This competition was notable for the participation of ma ...
. The ''balé branco'' (white ballet), the nickname given to Santos at the time, managed to retain the title after victories over
Botafogo
Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...
and
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...
. Pelé helped Santos overcome a Botafogo team that featured Brazilian greats such as
Garrincha
Manuel Francisco dos Santos (28 October 1933 – 20 January 1983), nicknamed Mané Garrincha, best known as simply Garrincha (, "little bird"), was a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, righ ...
and
Jairzinho with a last-minute goal in the first leg of the semi-finals which made it 1–1. In the second leg, Pelé scored a hat-trick in the
Estádio do Maracanã as Santos won, 0–4, in the second leg. Santos started the final series by winning, 3–2, in the first leg and defeating Boca Juniors 1–2, in
La Bombonera
La Bombonera (; , named after its resemblance to a chocolate box, per Viktor Sulčič), officially known as Alberto José Armando Stadium (, ; named after Alberto Armando), is an association football stadium located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...
. It was a rare feat in official competitions, with another goal from Pelé.
Santos became the first Brazilian team to lift the Copa Libertadores in Argentine soil. Pelé finished the tournament with five goals. Santos lost the Campeonato Paulista after finishing in third place but went on to win the Rio-São Paulo tournament after a 0–3 win over
Flamengo
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...
in the final, with Pelé scoring one goal. Pelé would also help Santos retain the Intercontinental Cup and the Taça Brasil against
AC Milan
(), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...
and Bahia respectively.
In the
1964 Copa Libertadores, Santos was beaten in both legs of the semi-finals by
Independiente. The club won the Campeonato Paulista, with Pelé netting 34 goals. Santos also shared the Rio-São Paulo title with Botafogo and won the Taça Brasil for the fourth consecutive year. In the
1965 Copa Libertadores
The 1965 Copa Libertadores de América was the sixth edition of South America's premier club football tournament. Colombia did not send a representative due to the disagreements between CONMEBOL and the Colombian football federation. This became t ...
, Santos reached the semi-finals and met Peñarol in a rematch of the 1962 final. After two matches, a playoff was needed to break the tie.
Unlike 1962, Peñarol came out on top and eliminated Santos 2–1.
Pelé would, however, finish as the top scorer of the tournament with eight goals.
1965–1974: ''O Milésimo'' and final years with Santos
In December 1965, Santos won the
Taça Brasil
The Taça Brasil () was the Brazilian national football championship contested from 1959 to 1968.
Bahia, Cruzeiro and Botafogo were the only champions to have played all phases of the tournament, because until the 1968 edition teams from Rio de ...
, their fifth straight Brazilian league title, with Pelé scoring the last goal in the final series. In 1966, Santos failed to retain the Taça Brasil as Pelé's goals were not enough to prevent a 9–4 defeat by
Cruzeiro (led by
Tostão) in the final series. The club did, however, win the Campeonato Paulista in 1967, 1968, and 1969. On 19 November 1969, Pelé scored his 1,000th goal in all competitions, in what was a highly anticipated moment in Brazil. The goal dubbed ''O Milésimo'' (The Thousandth), occurred in a match against Vasco da Gama, when Pelé scored from a penalty kick, at the Maracanã Stadium.
Various sources have said that the two factions involved in the
Nigerian Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...
agreed to a 48-hour
ceasefire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...
in 1969 so they could watch Pelé play an
exhibition game
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...
in
Lagos
Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
. An early source for this story was
''Ebony'' magazine in 1975. Santos ended up playing to a 2–2 draw with Lagos side Stationary Stores FC and Pelé scored his team's goals. The civil war went on for one more year after this game. In his autobiography, Pelé was unsure that there was a ceasefire, but said that there was an increased security presence at the game. Some sources, including Santos's website, say that the ceasefire was instead for the friendly in
Benin City
Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest
Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...
, bordering Biafra. Local researchers have not found contemporary reports of any ceasefire.
During his time at Santos, Pelé played alongside many gifted players, including
Zito,
Pepe, and
Coutinho; the latter partnered him in numerous one-two plays, attacks, and goals. After Pelé's 19th season with Santos, he left Brazilian football.
Pelé's 643 goals for Santos were the most goals scored for a single club until it was surpassed by
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...
of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
in December 2020.
Tours with Santos

Even though he never played in a European league, Pelé played exhibition games in several countries all over the world in tours with Santos. He played in Spain against
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
against
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
,
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
,
AC Milan
(), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...
and
AS Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...
. Pelé travelled to
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
in 1973, and played with Santos against
Al Ahly. This trip was days after his team's trip to
Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
to play a match against
Qadsia.
In
Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
, Pelé met by chance the Egyptian movie star
Zubaida Tharwat, who was in Kuwait attending a cinematic event. The two had a couple of photos and he admired her beauty. She said in a television interview about this incident that: she had traveled to
Kuwait City
Kuwait City (; ) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economic center of the emirate, containing Kuwait's Seif Pal ...
in 1973 at the invitation of the Kuwaiti Minister of Culture at the time, and when she went to the hotel where she was going to stay, she was surprised by the presence of many people and flowers inside the hotel, and among these people came to her "Pelé" wearing a collar of roses, and he removed it from him and put it on her.

When she asked what was going on and who was this person, whom she did not know because she did not like football, the hotel staff told her that he was the famous Brazilian football player, and that the hotel was crowded with his fans who wanted to see him. Zubaida Tharwat stated that after he saw her for the first time inside the hotel where they happened to be, he kept chasing her day and night, and wanted to take her with him to Brazil. By chance, the next stop for Pelé's tour was to
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, and he met again with Tharwat, who stated that she could not communicate with him as he did not speak
English at the time.
New York Cosmos
After the 1974 season (his 19th with Santos), Pelé retired from Brazilian club football although he continued to occasionally play for Santos in official competitive matches. A year later, he came out of semi-retirement to sign with the
New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to
* New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada)
* New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...
of the
North American Soccer League
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to
1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...
(NASL) for the
1975 season.
At a chaotic press conference at New York's
21 Club, the Cosmos unveiled Pelé. John O'Reilly, the club's media spokesman, stated, "We had superstars in the United States but nothing at the level of Pelé. Everyone wanted to touch him, shake his hand, get a photo with him." Though well past his prime at this point, Pelé was credited with significantly increasing public awareness and interest of the sport in the US.
During his first public appearance in Boston, he was injured by a crowd of fans who had surrounded him and was evacuated on a stretcher.

Pelé made his debut for the Cosmos on 15 June 1975 against the
Dallas Tornado
The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons.
T ...
at Downing Stadium, scoring one goal in a 2–2 draw. Pelé opened the door for many other stars to play in North America.
Giorgio Chinaglia
Giorgio Chinaglia (; 24 January 1947 – 1 April 2012) was an Italian association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with ...
followed him to the Cosmos, then
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...
and his former Santos teammate
Carlos Alberto. Over the next few years other players came to the league, including
Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...
,
Eusébio
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...
,
Bobby Moore
Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA ...
,
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...
and
Gordon Banks.
In 1975, one week before the
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.
The religious diversity of the ...
, Pelé played a friendly game for the Lebanese club
Nejmeh against a team of
Lebanese Premier League
The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...
stars,
scoring two goals which were not included in his official tally. On the day of the game, 40,000 spectators were at the stadium from early morning to watch the match.
Pelé led the Cosmos to the
1977 Soccer Bowl, in his third and final season with the club. In June 1977, the Cosmos attracted an NASL record 62,394 fans to
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...
for a 3–0 victory past the
Tampa Bay Rowdies
The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...
with a 37-year-old Pelé scoring a hat-trick. In the first leg of the quarter-finals, they attracted a US record crowd of 77,891 for what turned into an 8–3 rout of the
Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Giants Stadium. In the second leg of the semi-finals against the
Rochester Lancers, the Cosmos won 4–1.
Pelé finished his official playing career on 28 August 1977, by leading the New York Cosmos to their second Soccer Bowl title with a 2–1 win over the
Seattle Sounders at the
Civic Stadium in
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
.
On 1 October 1977, Pelé closed out his career in an exhibition match between the Cosmos and Santos. The match was played in front of a sold-out crowd at Giants Stadium and was televised in the US on
ABC's ''
Wide World of Sports'' as well as throughout the world. Pelé's father and wife both attended the match, as well as
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...
and Bobby Moore. Delivering a message to the audience before the start of the game – "Love is more important than what we can take in life" – Pelé played the first half with the Cosmos, the second with Santos. The game ended with the Cosmos winning 2–1, with Pelé scoring with a 30-yard free-kick for the Cosmos in what was the final goal of his career. During the second half, it started to rain, prompting a Brazilian newspaper to come out with the headline the following day: "Even The Sky Was Crying."
International career
Pelé's first international match was a 2–1 defeat against
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
on 7 July 1957 at the Maracanã.
In that match, he scored his first goal for Brazil aged 16 years and eight months, and he remains the youngest goalscorer for his country.
1958 World Cup
Pelé arrived in Sweden sidelined by a knee injury but on his return from the treatment room, his colleagues stood together and insisted upon his selection. His first match was against the
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in the third match of the first round of the 1958 FIFA World Cup, where he gave the assist to Vavá's second goal. He was at the time the youngest player ever to participate in the World Cup.
He scored his first World Cup goal against
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
in the quarter-finals, the only goal of the match, to help Brazil advance to the semi-finals while becoming the youngest ever World Cup goalscorer at 17 years and 239 days. Against
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in the semi-final, Brazil was leading 2–1 at halftime, and then Pelé scored a hat-trick, becoming the youngest player in World Cup history to do so.

On 29 June 1958, Pelé became the
youngest player to play in a World Cup final match at 17 years and 249 days. He scored two goals in
that final as Brazil beat
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
5–2 in Stockholm, the capital. Pelé hit the post and then
Vavá scored two goals to give Brazil the lead. Pelé's first goal, where he flicked the ball over a defender before
volleying into the corner of the net, was selected as one of the best goals in the history of the World Cup. Following Pelé's second goal, Swedish player
Sigvard Parling would later comment, "When Pelé scored the fifth goal in that Final, I have to be honest and say I felt like applauding".
When the match ended, Pelé passed out on the field, and was revived by Garrincha. He then recovered, and was compelled by the victory to weep as he was being congratulated by his teammates. He finished the tournament with six goals in four matches played, tied for second place, behind record-breaker
Just Fontaine
Just Louis Fontaine (18 August 193328 February 2023) was a French professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored the most goals ever in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in the 1958 tournament. In ...
, and was named best young player of the tournament.
[1958 FIFA World Cup Sweden – Awards](_blank)
FIFA. Retrieved 6 May 2011 His impact was arguably greater off the field, with Barney Ronay writing, "With nothing but talent to guide him, the boy from Minas Gerais became the first black global sporting superstar, and a source of genuine uplift and inspiration."
It was in the 1958 World Cup that Pelé began wearing a jersey with the number 10, which was the result of disorganization: the leaders of the Brazilian Federation did not allocate the shirt numbers of players and it was up to
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
to choose the number 10 shirt for Pelé, who was a substitute on the occasion. The press proclaimed Pelé the greatest revelation of the 1958 World Cup, and he was also retroactively given the Silver Ball as the second best player of the tournament, behind
Didi.
1959 South American Championship
Pelé also played in the
South American Championship. In the
1959 competition he was named best player of the tournament and was the top scorer with eight goals, as Brazil came second despite being unbeaten in the tournament.
He scored in five of Brazil's six games, including two goals against
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
and a hat-trick against
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
.
1962 World Cup
When the 1962 World Cup started, Pelé was considered the best player in the world.
In the first match of the 1962 World Cup in Chile, against
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, Pelé assisted the first goal and then scored the second one, after a run past four defenders, to go up 2–0. He got injured in the next game while attempting a long-range shot against
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
. This would keep him out of the rest of the tournament, and forced coach
Aymoré Moreira to make his only lineup change of the tournament. The substitute was
Amarildo, who performed well for the rest of the tournament. However, it was Garrincha who would take the leading role and carry Brazil to their second World Cup title, after beating Czechoslovakia at the final in Santiago. At the time, only players who appeared in the final were eligible for a medal before FIFA regulations were changed in 1978 to include the entire squad, with Pelé receiving his winner's medal retroactively in 2007.
1966 World Cup
Pelé was the most famous footballer in the world during the
1966 World Cup in England, and Brazil fielded some world champions like Garrincha,
Gilmar and
Djalma Santos with the addition of other stars like Jairzinho, Tostão and
Gérson, leading to high expectations for them.
["1966 FIFA World Cup England: Group 3"](_blank)
FIFA. Retrieved 16 January 2015 Brazil was eliminated in the first round, playing only three matches.
The World Cup was marked, among other things, for brutal fouls on Pelé that left him injured by the Bulgarian and Portuguese defenders.
Pelé scored the first goal from a free kick against
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, becoming the first player to score in three successive FIFA World Cups, but due to his injury, a result of persistent fouling by the Bulgarians, he missed the second game against
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
.
His coach stated that after the first game he felt "every team will take care of him in the same manner".
Brazil lost that game and Pelé, although still recovering, was brought back for the last crucial match against
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
at
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...
in Liverpool by the Brazilian coach
Vicente Feola
Vicente Ítalo Feola (; 20 November 1909 – 6 November 1975) was a Brazilian football manager and coach from São Paulo. He is best known for leading the Brazil national team to its first FIFA World Cup title in 1958.
Biography
Feola was ...
. Feola changed the entire defense, including the goalkeeper, while in midfield he returned to the formation of the first match. During the game, Portugal defender
João Morais fouled Pelé, but was not sent off by referee
George McCabe; a decision retrospectively viewed as being among the worst refereeing errors in World Cup history.
Pelé had to stay on the field limping for the rest of the game since substitutes were not allowed in football at that time.
Brazil lost the match against the Portuguese led by Eusébio and were eliminated from the tournament as a result. After this game he vowed he would never again play in the World Cup, a decision he would later change.
1970 World Cup

Pelé was called to the national team in early 1969, he refused at first, but then accepted and played in six
World Cup qualifying matches, scoring six goals.
The
1970 World Cup in Mexico was expected to be Pelé's last. Brazil's squad for the tournament featured major changes to the 1966 squad. Players like Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Valdir Pereira, Djalma Santos, and Gilmar had already retired. However, Brazil's 1970 World Cup squad, which included players like Pelé,
Rivellino, Jairzinho, Gérson, Carlos Alberto Torres, Tostão and
Clodoaldo
Clodoaldo Tavares de Santana, better known as Clodoaldo (; born 25 September 1949), is a Brazilian people, Brazilian former Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder, defensive midfielder.
Club career
Clodoaldo spent most of ...
, is often considered to be the greatest football team in history.
The front five of Jairzinho, Pelé, Gerson, Tostão, and Rivellino together created an attacking momentum, with Pelé having a central role in Brazil's way to the final. All of Brazil's matches in the tournament (except the final) were played in
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
, and in the first match against Czechoslovakia, Pelé gave Brazil a 2–1 lead, by controlling Gerson's 50-yard pass with his chest and then scoring. In this match Pelé attempted to
lob goalkeeper
Ivo Viktor from the halfway line, only narrowly missing the Czechoslovak goal.
Brazil went on to win the match, 4–1. In the first half of the match against
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, Pelé nearly scored with a header that was saved by the England goalkeeper Gordon Banks. Pelé recalled he was already shouting "Goal" when he headed the ball. It was often referred to as the "save of the century". In the second half, he controlled a cross from Tostão before flicking the ball to Jairzinho who scored the only goal.

Against
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, Pelé scored two goals, which included a 20-yard bending free-kick, with Brazil winning 3–2. In the quarter-final against
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, Brazil won 4–2, with Pelé assisting Tostão for Brazil's third goal. In the semi-final, Brazil faced
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
for the first time since the
1950 World Cup final round match. Jairzinho put Brazil ahead 2–1, and Pelé assisted Rivellino for the 3–1. During that match, Pelé made
one of his most famous plays. Tostão passed the ball for Pelé to collect which Uruguay's goalkeeper
Ladislao Mazurkiewicz took notice of and ran off his line to get the ball before Pelé. However, Pelé got there first and fooled Mazurkiewicz with a feint by not touching the ball, causing it to roll to the goalkeeper's left, while Pelé went to the goalkeeper's right. Pelé ran around the goalkeeper to retrieve the ball and took a shot while turning towards the goal, but he turned in excess as he shot, and the ball drifted just wide of the far post.
Brazil played
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
at the
Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Pelé scored the opening goal with a header after out jumping Italian defender
Tarcisio Burgnich. Brazil's 100th World Cup goal, Pelé's leap of joy into the arms of teammate Jairzinho in
celebrating the goal is regarded as one of the most iconic moments in World Cup history. He then made assists for Brazil's third goal, scored by Jairzinho, and the fourth finished by Carlos Alberto. The last goal of the game is often considered the greatest team goal of all time because it involved all but two of the team's outfield players. The play culminated after Pelé made a blind pass that went into Carlos Alberto's running trajectory. He came running from behind and struck the ball to score. Brazil won the match 4–1, keeping the
Jules Rimet Trophy indefinitely, and Pelé received the
Golden Ball as the player of the tournament.
Burgnich, who marked Pelé during the final, was quoted saying, "I told myself before the game, ''he's made of skin and bones just like everyone else'' – but I was wrong".
In terms of his goals and assists throughout the 1970 World Cup, Pelé was directly responsible for 53% of Brazil's goals throughout the tournament.
Pelé's last international match was on 18 July 1971 against
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
in Rio de Janeiro. With Pelé on the field, the Brazilian team's record was 67 wins, 14 draws, and 11 losses.
Brazil never lost a match while fielding both Pelé and Garrincha. Pelé's 77 goals (in 92 games) for Brazil saw him hold the record as the
national team's top goalscorer for over fifty years until it was surpassed by
Neymar
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...
(in his 125th game) in September 2023.
On 19 December 1973, Pelé played for a Brazil XI side against the
Rest of The World
Within sports and games played at the international competitive level, the Rest of the World refers to a team of players from many countries of origin that compete against a single individual or a team from a single group, such as a club or coun ...
in a farewell game for Garrincha, scoring the equalizer in an eventual 2–1 win. On 21 July 1983, the 42-year-old Pelé played for another Brazil XI side against a South Brazil team in
Goiânia
Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...
in a friendly match organized by
Zico to benefit the victims of a flood in
Santa Catarina; he scored a free-kick in a 1–2 loss.
Style of play
Pelé was known for connecting the phrase "
The Beautiful Game" with football. A prolific goalscorer, he was known for his ability to anticipate his opponents’ movements and finish off chances with an accurate and powerful shot with either foot.
Pelé was also a hard-working and complete player with exceptional vision and intelligence, who was recognised for his precise passing and the ability to provide teammates with
assists.
In his early career, he played in a variety of
attacking positions. Although he often operated inside the penalty area as a
striker or
centre forward
In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...
, his wide range of skills allowed him to play as an
inside forward
In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...
or a
second striker.
In his later career, he took on a
playmaking role behind the strikers, often functioning as an
attacking midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
. Pelé's unique playing style combined speed, creativity, and technical skill with physical power, stamina, and athleticism. His technique, flair, agility, and
dribbling
In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score.
As ...
skills allowed him to beat opponents with the ball, and frequently saw him use sudden changes of direction and elaborate feints to get past players, such as his trademark move, the ''drible da vaca''.
Another one of his signature moves was the ''paradinha'', or little stop.
Pelé excelled in the air, due to his heading accuracy, timing, and elevation.
Renowned for his
bending
In applied mechanics, bending (also known as flexure) characterizes the behavior of a slender structural element subjected to an external Structural load, load applied perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the element.
The structural eleme ...
shots, he was also an accurate
free-kick taker and
penalty taker, although he often refrained from taking penalties, stating that he believed it to be a cowardly way to score.
Pelé was also known to be a fair and highly influential player, who stood out for his charismatic leadership and sportsmanship on the pitch. His warm embrace of Bobby Moore following the Brazil vs England game at the 1970 World Cup is viewed as the embodiment of sportsmanship, with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' stating the image "captured the respect that two great players had for each other. As they exchanged jerseys, touches, and looks, the sportsmanship between them was all in the image. No gloating and no fist-pumping from Pelé. No despair, no defeatism from Bobby Moore." Pelé also earned a reputation for being a “big game player” due to his tendency to score crucial goals in important matches.
Legacy

Named the “greatest" by FIFA in 2012,
Pelé is one of the most lauded players in the history of football and has been frequently ranked the best player ever. Following his emergence at the 1958 World Cup he was nicknamed ''O Rei'' ("The King"). Among his contemporaries, Dutch star Johan Cruyff stated, "Pelé was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic."
Brazil's 1970 World Cup-winning captain Carlos Alberto Torres opined: "His great secret was improvisation. Those things he did were in one moment. He had an extraordinary perception of the game."
According to Tostão, his strike partner at the 1970 World Cup: "Pelé was the greatest – he was simply flawless. And off the pitch he is always smiling and upbeat. You never see him bad-tempered. He loves being Pelé."
His Brazilian teammate Clodoaldo commented on the adulation he witnessed: "In some countries they wanted to touch him, in some they wanted to kiss him. In others they even kissed the ground he walked on. I thought it was beautiful, just beautiful."
According to Franz Beckenbauer, West Germany's 1974 World Cup-winning captain: "Pelé is the greatest player of all time. He reigned supreme for 20 years. There's no one to compare with him."
Former Real Madrid and Hungary star
Ferenc Puskás
Ferenc Puskás (, ; né Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian footballer and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward and an attacking ...
stated: "The greatest player in history was
Di Stéfano. I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that."
Just Fontaine, French striker and the leading scorer at the 1958 World Cup said "When I saw Pelé play, it made me feel I should hang up my boots."
England's 1966 FIFA World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore commented: "Pelé was the most complete player I've ever seen, he had everything. Two good feet. Magic in the air. Quick. Powerful. Could beat people with skill. Could outrun people. Only five feet and eight inches tall, yet he seemed a giant of an athlete on the pitch. Perfect balance and impossible vision. He was the greatest because he could do anything and everything on a football pitch. I remember
João Saldanha
João Alves Jobin Saldanha (3 July 1917 – 12 July 1990) was a Brazilian journalism, journalist and association football, football manager. He coached the Brazil national football team during the South American Qualifying to the 1970 FIFA W ...
the coach being asked by a Brazilian journalist who was the best goalkeeper in his squad. He said Pelé. The man could play in any position".
Former Manchester United striker and member of England's 1966 FIFA World Cup-winning team
Sir Bobby Charlton stated, "I sometimes feel as though football was invented for this magical player."
During the 1970 World Cup, when Manchester United defender
Paddy Crerand
Patrick Timothy Crerand (born 19 February 1939) is a Scottish former Association football, footballer who played as a Wing half, right half. After six years at Celtic F.C., Celtic, he moved to Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, where he ...
(who was part of the
ITV panel) was asked, "How do you spell Pelé?", he replied, "Easy: G-O-D."
Following Pelé's death, former Brazilian international and World Cup Winner
Ronaldo stated that his "legacy transcends generations".
Ronaldo's teammate for club and country,
Roberto Carlos, also expressed gratitude towards Pele, saying that the "football world thanks you for everything you did for us".
Many of such tributes were issued after Pelé's death at the age of 82.
Accolades
After retiring, Pelé continued to be lauded by players, coaches, journalists and others. Brazilian attacking midfielder
Zico, who represented Brazil at the 1978, 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cup, stated: "This debate about the player of the century is absurd. There's only one possible answer: Pelé. He's the greatest player of all time, and by some distance I might add".
French three-time
Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 Ballon d'Or, 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.
Conceived ...
winner
Michel Platini
Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...
said: "There's Pelé the man, and then Pelé the player. And to play like Pelé is to play like God."
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...
, joint
FIFA Player of the Century
FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of ...
, and the player Pelé is
historically compared with, stated, "It's too bad we never got along, but he was an awesome player".
Prolific Brazilian striker
Romário
Romário de Souza Faria (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and former professional association football, footballer who is currently a Senator for Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and the presi ...
, winner of the
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...
and player of the tournament, remarked: "It's only inevitable I look up to Pelé. He's like a God to us".
Five-time FIFA Ballon d'Or winner
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...
said, "Pelé is the greatest player in football history, and there will only be one Pelé", while
José Mourinho
José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...
, two-time UEFA Champions League winning manager, commented: "I think he is football. You have the real special one – Mr. Pelé." Real Madrid honorary president and former player, Alfredo Di Stéfano, opined: "The best player ever? Pelé. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both great players with specific qualities, but Pelé was better".

Presenting Pelé with the
Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award, former South African president
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
said, "To watch him play was to watch the delight of a child combined with the extraordinary grace of a man in full."
US politician and political scientist
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
stated: "Performance at a high level in any sport is to exceed the ordinary human scale. But Pelé's performance transcended that of the ordinary star by as much as the star exceeds ordinary performance." After a reporter asked if his fame compared to that of Jesus, Pelé joked, "There are parts of the world where Jesus Christ is not so well known."
The artist
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
(who painted a portrait of Pelé) also quipped, "Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory: instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries."
David Goldblatt
David Goldblatt HonFRPS (29 November 1930 – 25 June 2018) was a South African documentary Photographer noted for his dedicated portrayal of the South African peoples within the political landscape of the apartheid era.Weinberg, Paul.David ...
wrote that his emergence at the World Cup in 1958 coincided with "the explosive spread of television, which massively amplified his presence everywhere", while
Barney Ronay states, "What is certain is that Pelé invented this game, the idea of individual global sporting superstardom, and in a way that is unrepeatable now."
In 1999, the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
elected him the Athlete of the Century and ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine named Pelé one of the
100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. In 2000, the
International Federation of Football History & Statistics
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
(IFFHS) voted Pelé the
World Player of the Century. During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the highest-paid athlete in the world. Pelé's "electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals" made him a star around the world. To take full advantage of his popularity, his teams toured internationally.
During his career, he became known as "The Black Pearl" (''A Pérola Negra''), "The King of Football" (''O Rei do Futebol''), "The King Pelé" (''O Rei Pelé'') or simply "The King" (''O Rei'').
In 2014, the city of
Santos inaugurated the Pelé museum – Museu Pelé – which displays a 2,400 piece collection of Pelé memorabilia. Approximately $22 million was invested in the construction of the museum, housed in a 19th-century mansion.
In January 2014, Pelé was awarded the first ever
FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur as an acknowledgment from the world governing body of the sport for his contribution to world football. After changing the rules in 1995, ''
France Football
''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...
'' did an extensive analysis in 2015 of the players who would have won the award if it had been open for them beginning in 1956: the year the Ballon d'Or award started. Their study revealed that Pelé would have received the award a record seven times (''Ballon d'or: Le nouveau palmarès''). The original recipients, however, remain unchanged.
In 2020, Pelé was named in the
Ballon d'Or Dream Team, a greatest all-time XI.
According to the
RSSSF
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...
, Pelé was one of the most successful goal-scorers in the world, scoring 538 league goals, a total of 775 in 840 official games and a tally of 1,301 goals in 1,390 appearances during his professional senior career, which included friendlies and tour games. He is ranked among the leading scorers in football history in both official and total matches. After his retirement in 1977 he played eight exhibition games and scored three goals.
"Pelé Pact" and Puma sponsorship
In the lead up to the 1970 World Cup,
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...
and
Puma established the "Pelé Pact", where both German sportswear companies, owned by the rival Dassler brothers, agreed not to sign a deal with Pelé, feeling that a bidding war would become too expensive.
However, Puma would break the pact by signing Pelé, and in addition to paying him a percentage of Puma King boot sales, gave him $120,000 ($2.85 million in 2022) to tie his laces prior to Brazil's quarter-final against Peru to advertise their boots.
With the camera panning in on the most famous athlete in the world, the Puma King Pelé boots were broadcast to a global audience, generating enormous publicity for the brand.
Praised as a shrewd marketing move by Puma, the Pelé deal played a prominent role in the
Dassler brothers feud, with many business experts crediting the rivalry and competition for transforming sports apparel into a multi-billion pound industry.
Personal life
Relationships and children
Pelé married three times and had several affairs, fathering seven children in all.
In 1966, Pelé married Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi. They had two daughters, Kely Cristina (born 13 January 1967), who married Arthur DeLuca, and Jennifer (b. 1978), as well as one son,
Edson ("Edinho", b. 27 August 1970).
The couple divorced in 1982.
In May 2014, Edinho was sentenced to 33 years in jail for laundering money from drug trafficking. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to 12 years and 10 months.
From 1981 to 1986, Pelé was romantically linked with TV presenter
Xuxa
Maria da Graça Xuxa Meneghel ( , ; born Maria da Graça Meneghel on 27 March 1963) is a Brazilian TV host, actress, singer, and businesswoman. Nicknamed "The Queen of Children", Xuxa built the largest Latin and South American children's ente ...
. She was 17 when they started dating. In April 1994, Pelé married psychologist and
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
singer Assíria Lemos Seixas, who gave birth on 28 September 1996 to twins
Joshua
Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...
and Celeste through fertility treatments.
The couple divorced in 2008.
Pelé had at least two more children from affairs. Sandra Machado, who was born from an affair Pelé had in 1964 with a housemaid, Anizia Machado, fought for years to be acknowledged by Pelé, who refused to submit to
DNA tests.
["Pele misses funeral of "daughter he never wanted"](_blank)
. ''People''. 18 October 2006. Retrieved 3 February 2014["Daughter who sued Pele dies of cancer at 42"](_blank)
. ESPN. 17 October 2006. Retrieved 3 February 2014. Pelé finally relented after a court-ordered DNA test proved she was his daughter. Sandra Machado died of cancer in 2006.
At the age of 73, Pelé announced his intention to marry 41-year-old Marcia Aoki, a Japanese-Brazilian importer of medical equipment from
Penápolis
Penápolis is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. The population is of 63,757 inhabitants (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE/2020). The city has an area of 710.8&nbs ...
, São Paulo, whom he had been dating since 2010. They first met in the mid-1980s in New York, before meeting again in 2008. They married in July 2016.
Politics
In January 1995, he was appointed by
Fernando Cardoso as minister of sports. During his tenure, multiple reforms against corruption in state football associations were presented. He resigned from the post on 30 April 1998.
During the
2013 protests in Brazil
The 2013 Brazilian protests were public demonstrations in several Brazilian cities, initiated mainly by the Movimento Passe Livre (Free Fare Movement), a local entity that advocates for free public transportation.
The demonstrations were ini ...
, Pelé asked for people to put aside the demonstrations and support the Brazil national team.
On 1 June 2022, Pelé published an open letter to the President of Russia
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
on his
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
account, in which he made a public plea to stop the "evil" and "unjustified"
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
.
Religion
A
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, Pelé donated a signed jersey to
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
. Accompanied by a signed football from
Ronaldo Nazario, it is located in one of the
Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...
.
Health
In 1977, Brazilian media reported that Pelé had his right kidney removed. In November 2012, Pelé underwent a successful hip operation. In December 2017, Pelé appeared in a wheelchair at the 2018 World Cup draw in Moscow where he was pictured with President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
and Argentine footballer
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...
.
A month later, he collapsed from exhaustion and was taken to hospital.
In 2019, after a hospitalisation because of a
urinary tract infection
A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that affects a part of the urinary tract. Lower urinary tract infections may involve the bladder (cystitis) or urethra (urethritis) while upper urinary tract infections affect the kidney (pyel ...
, Pelé underwent surgery to remove
kidney stone
Kidney stone disease (known as nephrolithiasis, renal calculus disease, or urolithiasis) is a crystallopathy and occurs when there are too many minerals in the urine and not enough liquid or hydration. This imbalance causes tiny pieces of cr ...
s. In February 2020, his son Edinho reported that Pelé was unable to walk independently and reluctant to leave home, ascribing his condition to a lack of rehabilitation following his hip operation.
In September 2021, Pelé had surgery to remove a tumour on the right side of his colon. Although his eldest daughter Kely stated he was "doing well", he was reportedly readmitted to intensive care a few days later, before finally being released on 30 September 2021 to begin
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
. In November 2022,
ESPN Brasil
ESPN is the Brazilian division of ESPN Inc. Launched in March 1989 as Canal+, it was the first country-specific version of ESPN outside the United States, launched in June 1995. The channel has covered major sporting events, like the 1996 Summer ...
reported that Pelé had been taken to hospital with "general swelling", along with cardiac issues and concerns that his chemotherapy treatment was not having the expected effect; his daughter Kely stated there was "no emergency".
After football
In 1994, Pelé was appointed a
UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and advocates who are designated by the United Nations. UNESCO goodwill ambas ...
. In 1995, Brazilian president
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso (; born 18 June 1931), also known by his initials FHC (), is a Brazilian sociologist, professor, and politician who served as the 34th president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 1 January 2003. He was the first Brazi ...
appointed Pelé to the position of extraordinary minister for sport. During this time he proposed legislation to reduce corruption in Brazilian football, which became known as the "
Pelé law". Cardoso eliminated the post of sports minister in 1998. In 2001, Pelé was accused of involvement in a corruption scandal that stole $700,000 from UNICEF. It was claimed that money given to Pelé's company for a benefit match was not returned after it was cancelled, although nothing was proven, and it was denied by UNICEF. In 1997, he received an honorary
knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
from Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
at a ceremony in
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
.
Pelé also helped inaugurate the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...
, alongside supermodel
Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Maria Schiffer, Lady Vaughn (; born 25 August 1970) is a German model and actress. She rose to fame in the 1990s as one of the world's most successful models, attaining supermodel status.
Born in Rheinberg, Germany, she initially asp ...
.
In 1993, Pelé publicly accused the Brazilian football administrator
Ricardo Teixeira of corruption after Pelé's television company was rejected in a contest for the Brazilian domestic rights to the 1994 World Cup. Pelé's accusations led to an eight-year feud between the pair. As a consequence of the affair, the
President of FIFA,
João Havelange
Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (, ; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, and athlete who was the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the second longest in ...
, Teixeira's father-in-law, banned Pelé from the draw for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in Las Vegas. Criticisms over the ban were perceived to have damaged Havelange's chances of re-election as FIFA's president in 1994.
In 1976, Pelé was on a
Pepsi
Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
-sponsored trip in Lagos, Nigeria, when
the military attempted a coup. Pelé was trapped in a hotel together with
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...
and other tennis pros, who were participating in the interrupted
1976 Lagos WCT tournament. Pelé and his crew eventually left the hotel to stay at the residence of Brazil's ambassador as they could not leave the country for a couple of days. Later the airport was opened and Pelé left the country disguised as a pilot.
Pelé published several autobiographies, starred in documentary films, and composed musical pieces, including
Sérgio Mendes
Sérgio Santos Mendes (; 11 February 1941 – 5 September 2024) was a Brazilian musician.
His career took off with worldwide hits by his band Brasil '66. He released 35 albums and was known for playing bossa nova, often mixed with funk. He ...
'
soundtrack for the film ''Pelé'' directed by
François Reichenbach
François Arnold Reichenbach (3 July 1921 – 2 February 1993) was a French film director, cinematographer producer and screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft ...
in 1977.
He appeared in the 1981 film ''
Escape to Victory'', about a
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
-era football match between Allied prisoners of war and a German team. Pelé starred alongside other footballers of the 1960s and 1970s, with actors
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...
and
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...
. In 1969, Pelé starred in a telenovela called ''Os Estranhos'', about first contact with aliens. It was created to drum up interest in the
Apollo missions. In 2001, he had a cameo role in the football satire film ''
Mike Bassett: England Manager''. Pelé was asked to participate in the 2006 ESPN documentary film ''
Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos'', but declined when the producers refused to pay his requested $100,000 fee.
Pelé appeared at the 2006
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...
in Davos, and spoke on the subject titled, "Can a Ball Change the World: The Role of Sports in Development". In November 2007, Pelé was in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
, England, to mark the 150th anniversary of the world's oldest football club,
Sheffield F.C.
Sheffield Football Club is an English association football, football club, currently based in Dronfield, Derbyshire. They compete in the , on the eighth level of the English football league system, English football pyramid. Founded in October ...
Pelé was the guest of honour at Sheffield's anniversary match against Inter Milan at
Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United.
The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...
.
As part of his visit, Pelé opened an exhibition which included the first public showing in 40 years of the
original hand-written rules of football.
Pelé scouted for
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
club
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
in 2002. He made the draw for the qualification groups for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. On 1 August 2010, Pelé was introduced as the honorary president of a revived
New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to
* New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada)
* New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...
, aiming to field a team in
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
.
In August 2011, ESPN reported that Santos was considering bringing him out of retirement for a
cameo role in the
2011 FIFA Club World Cup, although this turned out to be false.
The most notable area of Pelé's life since football was his ambassadorial work. In 1992, he was appointed a UN ambassador for ecology and the environment. He was also awarded Brazil's gold medal for outstanding services to the sport in 1995. In 2012, Pelé was awarded an honorary degree from the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
for "significant contribution to humanitarian and environmental causes, as well as his sporting achievements".
In 2009, Pelé assisted the
Rio de Janeiro bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. In July 2009, he spearheaded the Rio 2016 presentation to the
Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa
Association may refer to:
*Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal
*Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry
*Voluntary associatio ...
General Assembly in Abuja, Nigeria.
On 12 August 2012, Pelé was an attendee at the
2012 Olympic hunger summit hosted by British prime minister
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
at
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...
, London, part of a series of international efforts which have sought to respond to the return of hunger as a high-profile global issue. Later on the same day, Pelé appeared at the
closing ceremony of the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in London, following the handover section to the next host city for the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
, Rio de Janeiro.
In March 2016, Pelé filed a lawsuit against
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SEC; stylized as SΛMSUNG; ) is a South Korean multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation founded on 13 January 1969 and headquartered in Yeongtong District, Suwon, South Korea. It is curr ...
in the
seeking US$30 million in damages claiming violations under the
Lanham Act
The Lanham (Trademark) Act (, codified at et seq. () is the primary federal statute governing trademark law in the United States.
The Lanham Act establishes a national system of trademark registration and grants owners of federally registe ...
for false endorsement and a state law claim for violation of his right of publicity.
The suit alleged that at one point, Samsung and Pelé came close to entering into a licensing agreement for Pelé to appear in a Samsung advertising campaign, but Samsung abruptly pulled out of the negotiations. The October 2015 Samsung ad in question included a partial face shot of a man who allegedly "very closely resembles" Pelé and also a superimposed high-definition television screen next to the image of the man featuring a "modified
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
or scissors-kick", often used by Pelé.
The case was settled out-of-court several years later.
In addition to his ambassadorial work, Pelé supported various charitable causes, such as Action for Brazil's Children, Gols Pela Vida,
SOS Children's Villages
SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to families facing difficultie ...
, The Littlest Lamb,
Prince's Rainforests Project and many more. In 2016, Pelé auctioned more than 1600 items from a collection he accumulated over decades and raised £3.6 million for charity. In 2018, Pelé founded his charitable organisation, the Pelé Foundation, which endeavours to empower impoverished and disenfranchised children from around the globe.
Death and funeral
In 2021, Pelé was diagnosed with
colon cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...
. He underwent surgery the same month, and afterwards was treated with several rounds of
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
. In early 2022,
metastasis
Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, ...
were detected in the intestine, lung and liver. On 29 November, he was admitted to the
Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in São Paulo due to a respiratory infection after he contracted
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
and for reassessment of the treatment of his colon cancer. On 3 December 2022, it was reported that Pelé had become unresponsive to chemotherapy and that it was replaced with
palliative care
Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...
.
On 21 December 2022, the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital, where Pelé was being treated, stated that his tumour had advanced and he required "greater care related to renal and cardiac dysfunctions". Therefore, he was not allowed to spend Christmas at home, as his family had wanted. Pelé died on 29 December 2022, at 3:27 pm, at the age of 82, due to
multiple organ failure
Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring immediate medical intervention.
There are different stages of organ dysfunction for certain different organs, both in acute and in chronic ...
, a complication of colon cancer. Pelé's
death certificate
A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, a ...
stated that he had died of
kidney failure
Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...
,
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood.
Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...
,
bronchopneumonia
Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the Bronchus, bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014
...
and
colon adenocarcinoma. His 100-year-old mother, Celeste, survived him, though she had been in a
vegetative state since 2019, and was thus unaware of his death; she would later die in June 2024. Pelé's sister Maria Lucia do Nascimento described their mother as "in her own little world".
Tributes were paid by current players, including
Neymar
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...
,
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...
,
Kylian Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and Captain (association football), captains ...
and
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...
, along with other major sporting figures, celebrities, and world leaders.
The outgoing Brazilian president,
Jair Bolsonaro
Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...
, declared a three-day period of national mourning.
The national flags of the 211 member associations of FIFA were flown at half-mast at FIFA headquarters in Zürich. Landmarks and stadiums lit up in honour of Pelé included the
Christ the Redeemer statue and
Maracanã Stadium
Maracanã Stadium (, ; named after the Maracanã River), officially known as Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium (, ; , named after Mário Filho), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighbor ...
in Rio de Janeiro, the headquarters of
CONMEBOL
CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...
in Paraguay
and
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
in London. There was applause and a minute's silence at matches in honour of Pelé.
Pelé's funeral, which involved his body being publicly displayed in an open coffin which was draped with the flags of Brazil and Santos FC, began at
Vila Belmiro stadium in
Santos on 2 January 2023.
Thousands of fans flooded the streets to attend the first day of the funeral service, with some in attendance claiming that they had to wait three hours in line.
The public wake would continue to 3 January,
and saw more than 230,000 people in attendance. Many in attendance were wearing the yellow and green No. 10 Brazilian jerseys and the black and white Santos football club jersey, which Pelé wore during his career.
Brazil television channels suspended normal broadcasting to cover the funeral procession.
Pelé's wife Marcia Aoki, his son Edinho, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, CONMEBOL president
Alejandro Domínguez and president of the
Brazilian Football Confederation
The Brazilian Football Confederation (, CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil. It was founded on Monday, 8 June 1914, as , and renamed Confederação Brasileira de Desportos in 1916. The football confederation, as known today, sepa ...
Ednaldo Rodrigues were among those in attendance. It would continue on 3 January 2023. Newly sworn in Brazilian president
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...
was also among those who attended the wake.
After the funeral procession, Pelé was buried at the
Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica.
Kigali Pelé Stadium in Rwanda was renamed for him in March 2023 by Rwandan president
Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame ( ; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who has been the President of Rwanda since 2000. He was previously a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel armed force which invaded ...
and FIFA president Gianni Infantino as part of the
73rd FIFA Congress. On 26 April 2023, the nickname became synonymous with "exceptional, incomparable, unique" in ''
Michaelis'' Portuguese-language dictionary after a campaign with 125,000 signatories.
Career statistics
Club
Pelé's goalscoring record is often reported by FIFA as being 1,281 goals in 1,363 games.
This figure includes goals scored by Pelé in friendly club matches, including international tours Pelé completed with Santos and the New York Cosmos, and a few games Pelé played in for the Brazilian armed forces teams during his national service in Brazil and the state team of
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
who competed for the Brazilian Championship of States Teams (''
Campeonato Brasileiro de Seleções Estaduais'').
He was listed in the ''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
'' for most career goals scored in football.
In 2000, IFFHS declared Pelé as the "World's Best and successful Top Division Goal Scorer of all time" with 541 goals in 560 games and honoured him with a trophy.
The tables below record every goal Pelé scored in official club competitions for Santos FC and all matches and goals for the New York Cosmos.
* '' * Indicates that the number was deduced from the list of rsssf.com and this list of Pelé games.''
International
With 77 goals in 92 official appearances, Pelé is the second highest goalscorer of the Brazil national football team.
He scored twelve goals and is credited with ten assists in fourteen
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
appearances, including four goals and seven assists in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
.
Honours
São Paulo state team
*
Campeonato Brasileiro de Seleções Estaduais: 1959
Santos
*
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...
:
1961
Events January
* January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union.
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
,
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
,
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
,
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
,
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
,
1968
Events January–February
* January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously.
* January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
*
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
:
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
,
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
*
Intercontinental Cup:
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
,
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
["Recopa Intercontinental 1968/69"](_blank)
. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 1 June 2018
*
Intercontinental Supercup:
1968
Events January–February
* January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously.
* January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
*
Campeonato Paulista
The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...
:
1958,
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events January
* Janu ...
,
1961
Events January
* January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union.
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
,
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
,
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
,
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
,
1967
Events January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
,
1968
Events January–February
* January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously.
* January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
,
1969,
1973
Events January
* January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
*
Torneio Rio-São Paulo:
1959
Events
January
* January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
,
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
,
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
New York Cosmos
*
North American Soccer League
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to
1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...
,
Soccer Bowl
The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's ...
:
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
*
North American Soccer League
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to
1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...
, Atlantic Conference Championship: 1977
Brazil
*
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
:
1958,
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
,
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
*
Taça do Atlântico: 1960
*
Roca Cup: 1957, 1963
*
Taça Oswaldo Cruz: 1958, 1962, 1968
*
Copa Bernardo O'Higgins: 1959
Individual
In December 2000, Pelé and Maradona shared the prize of FIFA Player of the Century by FIFA. The award was originally intended to be based upon votes in a web poll, but after it became apparent that it favoured Diego Maradona after a reported cyber-blitz by Maradona fans, FIFA then appointed a "Family of Football" committee of FIFA members to decide the winner of the award together with the votes of the readers of the FIFA magazine. The committee chose Pelé. Since Maradona was winning the Internet poll, however, it was decided he and Pelé should share the award.
*
Campeonato Paulista
The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...
Top Scorer: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1973
*
FIFA World Cup Best Young Player:
1958
*
FIFA World Cup Silver Ball:
1958
*
France Football
''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...
's
Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 Ballon d'Or, 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.
Conceived ...
: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1970 –
Le nouveau palmarès (the new winners)
*
South American Championship Best Player:
1959
Events
January
* January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
*
South American Championship Top Scorer:
1959
Events
January
* January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...
*
Copa Bernardo O'Higgins Top Scorer: 1959 (shared with Quarentinha)
* Gol de Placa: 1961
*
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...
Top Scorer:
1961
Events January
* January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union.
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
,
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
,
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
*
Intercontinental Cup Top Scorer:
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
,
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
*
Torneio Rio-São Paulo Top Scorer: 1963
*
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
Top Scorer:
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
*
BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year
The BBC World Sport Star of the Year (formerly known as the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year) is an award presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. The award is presented to a non-British sportsperson c ...
: 1970
*
Bola de Prata: 1970
*
FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (Best Player):
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
*
South American Footballer of the Year: 1973
* Included in the
North American Soccer League (NASL) All-Star team: 1975, 1976, 1977
* NASL Top Assist Provider: 1976
*
NASL Most Valuable Player: 1976
*
Number 10 retired
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
by the
New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to
* New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada)
* New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...
as a recognition to his contribution to the club: 1977
* Elected Citizen of the World, by the United Nations: 1977
*
International Peace Award: 1978
* Sports Champion of the Century, by ''
L'Équipe
''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...
'': 1981
*
FIFA Order of Merit
The FIFA Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. The award is presented at the annual FIFA congress. It is normally awarded to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to :association football.
At FIFA's ce ...
: 1984
* Inducted into the American National Soccer Hall of Fame: 1992
* Elected Goodwill Ambassador, by UNESCO: 1993
* Winner of France Football, France Football's World Cup Top-100 1930–1990: 1994
* Marca Leyenda: 1997
* World Team of the 20th Century: 1998
[World All-Time Teams](_blank)
. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 26 November 2014
* Football Player of the Century, elected by
France Football
''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...
's
Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 Ballon d'Or, 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.
Conceived ...
Winners: 1999
* ''TIME'': One of the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century, 100 Most Important People of the 20th century: 1999
* Greatest Player of the 20th Century, by World Soccer (magazine), World Soccer: 1999
* Athlete of the Century, by Reuters News Agency: 1999
* Athlete of the Century, elected by
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
: 1999
* World Player of the Century, by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics, IFFHS: 2000
* South American player of the century, by the IFFHS: 2000
*
FIFA Player of the Century
FIFA Player of the Century was a one-off award created by FIFA to decide the greatest football player of the 20th century, announced at the annual FIFA World gala, held in Rome on 11 December 2000. Diego Maradona and Pelé were joint winners of ...
: 2000
*
Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: 2000
* FIFA Order of Merit, FIFA Centennial Award: 2004
* FIFA 100 Greatest Living Footballers: 2004
* BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award: 2005
* Elected best Brazilian player of the century, by the IFFHS: 2006
* FIFA Presidential Award: 2007
* Greatest football player to have ever played the game, by Golden Foot: 2012
*
FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur: 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or#FIFA Ballon d'or Prix d'Honneur, 2013
["Pele receives FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur"](_blank)
FIFA. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014
* World Soccer (magazine)#Greatest XI of All Time, World Soccer Greatest XI of All Time: 2013
* Legends of Football Award: 2013
* South America's Best Player in History, by ''L'Équipe'': 2015
* Inspiration Award, by ''GQ'': 2017
* Global Citizen Award, by the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...
: 2018
* FWA Tribute Award: 2018
*
Ballon d'Or Dream Team: 2020
* IFFHS World Team#All-time Men's Dream Team (2021), IFFHS All-time Men's Dream Team: 2021
* IFFHS South America Men's Team of All Time: 2021
* Player of History Award: 2022
* The Best FIFA Football Awards#FIFA Special Award for an Outstanding Career Achievement, FIFA Best Special Award: The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022#The Best FIFA Special Award, 2022
; Orders
* Order of Rio Branco, Knight of the Order of Rio Branco: 1967
* Elected Order of Rio Branco, Commander of the Order of Rio Branco after scoring the thousandth goal: 1969
* Officer of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite of the Kingdom of Morocco: 1976
* Awarded with the Order of Champions, by the Organization of Catholic Youth in the USA: 1978
* Awarded the FIFA Order as a tribute to his 80 years as a sports institution: 1984
* Awarded with the Order of Merit of South America, by CONMEBOL: 1984
* He was awarded the National Order of Merit (Brazil), National Order of Merit, by the government of Brazil: 1991
* Awarded with the Cross of the Order of the Republic of Hungary: 1994
* Awarded the Order of Military Merit (Brazil), Order of Military Merit: 1995
* Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (honorary knighthood): 1997
* Awarded with the Ordem do Mérito Cultural, Order of Cultural Merit, by the government of Brazil: 2004
* Olympic Order, by the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
: 2016
; Records
* Brazil national football team records and statistics#Top goalscorers, Highest goals-per-game ratio for Brazil national football team: 0.84
* Highest goals-per-game ratio of any CONMEBOL, South American top international scorer: 0.84
* List of Intercontinental Cup goalscorers, Highest goals-per-game ratio of any leading scorer in the Intercontinental Cup: 2.33
* Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004)#All-time top scorers, Most goals in the
Intercontinental Cup: 7
* Santos FC#Statistics and records, Most goals for
Santos: 643 (in 659 competitive games)
* Most goals for Santos: 1091 (including friendlies)
* Santos FC#Statistics and records, Most appearances for Santos: 1116
* Most goals within a single Brazilian football league system, Brazilian top-flight league season: 58
* Most goals scored in a single Campeonato Paulista#Winners and goalscorers, Campeonato Paulista season: 58 (in 38 competitive games,1958)
* Most goals scored in a List of players with the most goals in an association football game#Brazil, single Campeonato Paulista match: 8 (1964)
* Most goals scored in Campeonato Paulista history: 466
* Most seasons as Campeonato Paulista Campeonato Paulista#Top scorers, Top Scorer: 11
* Most consecutive seasons as Campeonato Paulista Top Scorer: 9 (1957–1965)
* Most goals in a calendar year (including friendlies, recognised by
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
): 127 (1959)
*
RSSSF
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...
record for most top level goals scored in one season (including friendlies): 120 (1959)
* RSSSF record for most seasons with over 100 top level goals scored (including friendlies): 3 (1959, 1961, 1965)
* RSSSF record for most goals scored before the age of 30: 675
* RSSSF record for most top level career goals (including friendlies): 1,274
* Guinness World Record for most career goals in world football (including friendlies): 1,283 (in 1,363 games)
* International Federation of Football History & Statistics, IFFHS record for most top division league goals: 604
* IFFHS record for most top level domestic goals: 659
* Guinness World Record for most Hat-trick (association football), hat-tricks in world football: 92
* List of Brazil national football team hat-tricks, Most hat-tricks for Brazil: 7
* Most
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
winners' medals: 3 (
1958,
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
,
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
)
* Youngest winner of a FIFA World Cup: aged 17 years and 249 days (1958)
* Youngest goalscorer in a FIFA World Cup: aged 17 years and 239 days (for Brazil vs
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, 1958)
[Planet World Cup – Statistics – Players](_blank)
Planet World Cup. Retrieved 19 October 2015
* Youngest player to score twice in a FIFA World Cup semi-final: aged 17 years and 244 days (for Brazil vs
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, 1958)
* Youngest player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World Cup: aged 17 years and 244 days (for Brazil vs France, 1958)
* Youngest player to play in a List of FIFA World Cup finals, FIFA World Cup Final: aged 17 years and 249 days (1958 FIFA World Cup Final, 1958)
* Youngest goalscorer in a FIFA World Cup Final: aged 17 years and 249 days (for Brazil vs
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, 1958)
* Youngest player to score twice in a FIFA World Cup Final: aged 17 years and 249 days (for Brazil vs Sweden, 1958)
* Youngest player to play for Brazil in a FIFA World Cup: aged 17 years and 234 days
* Youngest player to start a knockout match at a FIFA World Cup
* Youngest player to reach five FIFA World Cup knockout stage goals
* Youngest player to debut for Brazil national football team: aged 16 years and 259 days (Brazil vs
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, 1957)
* Brazil national football team#Youngest goalscorer, Youngest goalscorer for Brazil national football team: aged 16 years and 259 days (Brazil vs Argentina, 1957)
* Youngest Top Scorer in the Campeonato Paulista
* First player to score in three successive FIFA World Cups
* First teenager to score in a FIFA World Cup Final
* One of only five players to have scored in four different FIFA World Cup tournaments
* One of only five players to have scored in two different FIFA World Cup Finals
* Scored in two FIFA World Cup Finals for List of FIFA World Cup winning players#Winning players, winning teams (shared with
Vavá)
* Most assists provided in FIFA World Cup history: 10 (1958–1970)
* Most assists provided in a single FIFA World Cup tournament: 6 (1970)
* Most assists provided in FIFA World Cup Final matches: 3 (1 in 1958 and 2 in 1970 FIFA World Cup Final, 1970)
* Most assists provided in FIFA World Cup knockout phase: 6 (shared with Lionel Messi, Messi)
* Most goals from open play in FIFA World Cup Final matches: 3 (2 in 1958 and 1 in 1970) (shared with
Vavá, Geoff Hurst and Zinedine Zidane)
* Most FIFA World Cup goal involvements for Brazil
* Most goals scored in the
Copa Bernardo O'Higgins: 3 (shared with Quarentinha)
* Only player to reach 25 international goals as a teenager
* Only player to score in a FIFA World Cup before turning 18
* Only player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World cup before turning 18
* Only player to have Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004)#Hat-tricks, scored a hat-trick in the Intercontinental Cup
* Only player to have scored a hat-trick in the Copa Bernardo O'Higgins
Filmography
See also
* List of Brazil national football team hat-tricks
* List of international goals scored by Pelé
* List of international goals scored by Pelé#Hat-tricks, List of international hat-tricks scored by Pelé
* List of men's footballers with 500 or more goals
* List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
* Pelé runaround move
* Torcida Jovem, Torcida Jovem of Santos FC School of Samba
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
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Peléat National Soccer Hall of Fame
Pelé: A Legend Looks Back– slideshow by Life (magazine), ''Life'' magazine
List of Goals for BrazilPeléat Santos official website
at Planet World Cup
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pele
Pelé,
1940 births
1958 FIFA World Cup players
1962 FIFA World Cup players
1966 FIFA World Cup players
1970 FIFA World Cup players
2022 deaths
20th-century Brazilian sportsmen
Afro-Brazilian people
Afro-Brazilian sportspeople
Association football people awarded knighthoods
BBC Sports Personality Lifetime Achievement Award recipients
BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners
Brazil men's international footballers
Brazilian autobiographers
Brazilian expatriate men's footballers
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Brazilian men's footballers
Brazilian non-fiction writers
Brazilian Roman Catholics
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
Copa Libertadores top scorers
Copa Libertadores–winning players
Deaths from cancer in São Paulo (state)
Deaths from colorectal cancer in Brazil
Deaths from multiple organ failure
Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
FIFA 100
FIFA World Cup–winning players
Footballers from Minas Gerais
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Illeists
Knight's Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil)
Knights of the Legion of Honour
Laureus World Sports Awards winners
Men's association football forwards
National Soccer Hall of Fame members
New York Cosmos (1970–1985) players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
People from Três Corações
Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Brazil)
Recipients of the Olympic Order
Recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit (Brazil)
Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil)
Santos FC players
São Paulo state football team players
South American Footballer of the Year winners
Sports ministers of Brazil
UNESCO goodwill ambassadors
Metropolitan University of Santos alumni