Pelé

Lore & Background

Pelé began playing for the Brazilian club Santos at age 15, and for the Brazil national team at 16. During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cup titles – in 1958, 1962, and 1970 – becoming the only player to do so and the youngest to win a World Cup, at just 17 years old. He was nicknamed O Rei (the King) following the 1958 World Cup. 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, Pelé is Santos' all-time top goalscorer with 643 goals in 659 games. In a golden era for Santos, Pelé led the club to victory at the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores and at the 1962 and 1963 Intercontinental Cup. Credited with connecting the phrase 'The Beautiful Game' with football, Pelé's tremendous skill 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 highest-paid athlete in the world. After retiring in 1977, he was a worldwide ambassador for football and undertook acting and commercial ventures. In 2010, he was named the honorary president of the New York Cosmos.

In Their Own Story

The Maracanã Stadium holds its breath as the final whistle approaches. The crowd is a sea of yellow and green, chanting a single name that echoes off the concrete tiers. A young man in the number 10 jersey receives the ball near the halfway line. He doesn't run; he glides. Defenders close in like wolves, but he feints left, shifts right, and slips through the gap as if the grass itself parted for him. With a touch so soft it seems to defy gravity, he lifts the ball over the goalkeeper's outstretched hands. The net ripples, the stadium erupts into a roar that shakes the earth, and history is written in a single, perfect moment.

Reader's Guide

Pelé averaged almost a goal per game throughout his career and could strike the ball with either foot. While predominantly a striker, he could also be a playmaker, providing assists with his vision and passing ability. In Brazil, he was hailed as a national hero for his accomplishments in football and for his outspoken support of policies to benefit 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.

Did You Know?

• Pelé's 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which includes exhibition games, is recognised as a Guinness World Record.
• In 1999, he was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and was included in the Time 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 (IFFHS) and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century, alongside Diego Maradon
• Pelé was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison, but an error on his birth certificate led many documents to show his name as 'Edison'.
• The origin of his nickname 'Pelé' is unclear; he said it probably emerged after he mispronounced the name of his favourite player, Bilé, a goalkeeper for Vasco da Gama.