Pelé, who led Brazil to three FIFA World Cup titles (1958, 1962 and 1970), is considered the greatest player in football history and the ‘King of Football’. He was renowned throughout the world for his excellent dribbling, accurate finishing and great sportsmanship.
The journey from Edison to Pelé
Born on 23 October 1940 in Tres Coraocos, Minas Gerais state, Pele’s real name was ‘Edson Arantes do Nascimento’. His parents named him after Thomas Alva Edison (inventor of the light bulb), because electricity first came to their town the year he was born. As a child, his teammates began jokingly calling him ‘Pelé’ because he could not pronounce the name of his hometown goalkeeper ‘Bile’—and this name later became synonymous with football.
From poverty to global stardom
Pele’s childhood was spent in financial crisis. His father, a semi-professional footballer, retired from the game due to injury and had to work as a cleaner to make ends meet. Due to lack of money, Pelé had to play without shoes or a football, and his mother would make him cloth footballs. At the age of just 15, he signed a contract with ‘Santos’ club, which changed his life. At the age of 16 years and 9 months, Pele got a chance to make his international debut. He became the youngest footballer to score a goal in the Men’s FIFA World Cup when he scored in the quarterfinals of the 1958 World Cup at the age of 17 years and 239 days.
Records and legacy
Pelé scored 77 goals in 92 international matches for Brazil. He played a total of 14 matches in four editions of the FIFA World Cup, scoring 12 goals. While playing for the Santos club, he scored 643 goals out of a total of 680 club goals in his career. However, due to the lack of systematic records during his period, his total number of goals varies across sources. According to Guinness World Records, he scored 1,279 goals at professional level between 1956 and 1977.
He played the last three years of his career for the New York Cosmos club. His ‘bicycle kick’ against Belgium in 1965 is still considered a great moment in the history of football. After a prolonged illness, the legendary footballer passed away on 29 December 2022, battling cancer.
