Pelé - wikipedia Pelé Brazilian retired footballer `` Pele '' redirects here. For the Hawaiian goddess, see Pele ( deity ). For other uses, see Pele ( disambiguation ). `` O Rei '' redirects here. For the Portuguese footballer of the same nickname, see Eusébio. This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Arantes and the second or paternal family name is do Nascimento. Pelé Pelé in 2008 Edson Arantes do Nascimento ( 1940 - 10 - 23 ) 23 October 1940 ( age 77 ) Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil Occupation Footballer humanitarian Height 1.73 m ( 5 ft 8 in ) Spouse ( s ) Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi ( m. 1966 -- 1982 ) Assíria Lemos Seixas ( m. 1994 -- 2008 ) Marcia Aoki ( m. 2016 ) Partner ( s ) Xuxa Meneghel ( 1981 -- 1986 ) Children 7 Parent ( s ) Dondinho, Celeste Arantes Association football career Playing position Forward Attacking midfielder Youth career 1953 -- 1956 Bauru Senior career * Years Team Apps ( Gls ) 1956 -- 1974 Santos 638 ( 619 ) 1975 -- 1977 New York Cosmos 56 ( 31 ) Total 694 ( 650 ) National team 1957 -- 1971 Brazil 92 ( 77 ) Honours Representing Brazil Men 's Football FIFA World Cup 1958 Sweden National Team 1962 Chile National Team 1970 Mexico National Team Copa América 1959 Argentina National Team * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only Website www.pele10.com Edson Arantes do Nascimento ( Brazilian Portuguese : ( ˈɛtsõ ( w ) ɐˈɾɐ̃tʃiz du nɐsiˈmẽtu ) ; born 23 October 1940 ), known as Pelé ( ( peˈlɛ ) ), is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as a forward. He is regarded by many in the sport, including football writers, players, and fans, as the greatest footballer of all time. In 1999, he 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 award. That same year, Pelé was elected Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee. According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful league goal - scorer in the world, scoring 1281 goals in 1363 games, which included unofficial friendlies and tour games. During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best - paid athlete in the world. Pelé began playing for Santos at age 15 and the Brazil national team at 16. During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups : 1958, 1962 and 1970, being the only player ever to do so. Pelé is the all - time leading goalscorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 92 games. At club level he is the record goalscorer for Santos, and led them to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores. Pelé 's `` electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals '' made him a star around the world, and his teams toured internationally in order to take full advantage of his popularity. Since retiring in 1977, Pelé has been a worldwide ambassador for football and has made many acting and commercial ventures. In 2010, he was named the Honorary President of the New York Cosmos. Pelé has also been known for connecting the phrase `` The Beautiful Game '' with football. Averaging almost a goal per game throughout his career, Pelé was adept at striking the ball with either foot in addition to anticipating his opponents ' movements on the field. While predominantly a striker, he could also drop deep and take on a playmaking role, providing assists with his vision and passing ability, and he would also use his dribbling skills to go past opponents. In Brazil, he is 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. Throughout his career and in his retirement, Pelé received several individual and team awards for his performance in the field, his record - breaking achievements, and legacy in the sport. Contents 1 Early years 2 Club career 2.1 Santos 2.2 New York Cosmos 3 International career 3.1 1958 World Cup 3.2 South American Championship 3.3 1962 World Cup 3.4 1966 World Cup 3.5 1970 World Cup 4 Style of play 5 Reception and legacy 5.1 Accolades 6 Personal life 6.1 Relationships and children 6.2 Politics 6.3 Health 7 After football 8 Honours 8.1 International 8.2 Club 8.3 Individual 9 Personal records 10 Career statistics 10.1 Club 10.2 International 10.3 Summary 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 Bibliography 15 External links Early years Born in Três Corações in 1940, Pelé has a street named after him in the city -- Rua Edson Arantes do Nascimento. A statue of Pelé is also prominently placed in a plaza near downtown. Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on 23 October 1940, in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil, the son of Fluminense footballer Dondinho ( born João Ramos do Nascimento ) and Celeste Arantes. He was the elder of two siblings. He was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison. His parents decided to remove the `` i '' and call him `` Edson '', but there was a mistake on the birth certificate, leading many documents to show his name as `` Edison '', not `` Edson '', as he is called. He was originally nicknamed `` Dico '' by his family. He received the nickname `` Pelé '' during his school days, when it is claimed he was given it because of his pronunciation of the name of his favorite player, local Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bilé, which he misspoke but the more he complained the more it stuck. In his autobiography, Pelé stated he had no idea what the name means, nor did his old friends. Apart from the assertion that the name is derived from that of Bilé, and that it is Hebrew for `` miracle '' ( פֶּ֫לֶא ), the word has no known meaning in Portuguese. Pelé grew up in poverty in Bauru in the state of São Paulo. 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 a string or a grapefruit. He played for several amateur teams in his youth, including Sete de Setembro, Canto do Rio, São Paulinho, and Amériquinha. Pelé led Bauru Athletic Club juniors ( coached by Waldemar de Brito ) to two São Paulo 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 Futebol de Salão ( indoor football ) competition in the region. Pelé and his team won the first championship and several others. According to Pelé, 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 accredits indoor football for helping him think better on the spot. In addition, indoor football allowed him to play with adults when he was about 14 years old. In one of the tournaments he participated, he was initially considered too young to play, but eventually went on to end up top scorer with fourteen or fifteen goals. `` That gave me a lot of confidence '', Pelé said, `` I knew then not to be afraid of whatever might come ''. Club career Santos 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, telling the directors at Santos 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 Santo Andre 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 1962 World Cup, wealthy European clubs such as Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United tried to sign him, but the government of Brazil under President Jânio Quadros had declared Pelé an `` official national treasure '' the year before to prevent him from being transferred out of the country. Pelé with Santos in the Netherlands, October 1962 Pelé won his first major title with Santos in 1958 as the team won the Campeonato Paulista ; Pelé would finish the tournament as top scorer with 58 goals, a record that 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 that same year, beating Bahia in the finals ; Pelé finished as top scorer of the tournament with 9 goals. The victory allowed Santos to participate in the Copa Libertadores, the most prestigious club tournament in the Western hemisphere. `` I arrived hoping to stop a great man, but I went away convinced I had been undone by someone who was not born on the same planet as the rest of us. '' -- Benfica goalkeeper Costa Pereira following the loss to Santos in 1962. Santos 's most successful Copa Libertadores season started in 1962 ; the team was seeded in Group One alongside Cerro Porteño 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 semifinals and met defending champions Peñarol 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 Brasileiro ( 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. Wearing his number 10 shirt, Pelé produced one of the best performances of his career, scoring a hat - trick in Lisbon as Santos won 5 -- 2. As the defending champions, Santos qualified automatically to the semi-final stage of the 1963 Copa Libertadores. The ballet blanco, the nickname given to Santos for Pelé, managed to retain the title after victories over Botafogo and Boca Juniors. Pelé helped Santos overcome a Botafogo team that contained Brazilian legends such as Garrincha 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. It was a rare feat in official competitions, with another goal from Pelé. Santos became the first ( and to date the only ) Brazilian team to lift the Copa Libertadores in Argentine soil. Pelé finished the tournament with 5 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 in the final, with Pelé scoring one goal. Pelé would also help Santos retain the Intercontinental Cup and the Taça Brasil against Milan and Bahia respectively. Pelé is the all - time leading goalscorer for Santos. In the 1964 Copa Libertadores, Santos were 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, 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 topscorer of the tournament with eight goals. This proved to be the start of a decline as Santos failed to retain the Torneio Rio - São Paulo. In 1966, Pelé and Santos also 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 1000th goal in all competitions, in what was a highly anticipated moment in Brazil. The goal, popularly dubbed O Milésimo ( The Thousandth ), occurred in a match against Vasco da Gama, when Pelé scored from a penalty kick, at the Maracanã Stadium. Pelé states that his most memorable goal was scored at Rua Javari stadium on a Campeonato Paulista match against São Paulo rival Clube Atlético Juventus 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 ''. In 1967, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48 - hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play an exhibition game in Lagos. 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. New York Cosmos Pelé signing a football for U.S. President Richard Nixon at the White House in 1973, two years before joining the 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. Two years later, he came out of semi-retirement to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League ( NASL ) for the 1975 season. Though well past his prime at this point, Pelé was credited with significantly increasing public awareness and interest of the sport in the United States. Hoping to fuel the same kind of awareness in the Dominican Republic, he and the Cosmos team played in an exhibition match against Haitian team, Violette AC, in the Santo Domingo Olympic Stadium on 3 June 1976, where over 25,000 fans watched him score a winning goal in the last seconds of the match, leading the Cosmos to a 2 -- 1 victory. He led the Cosmos to the 1977 NASL championship, in his third and final season with the club. Pelé ( left ) with Eusébio ( far right ) before a game in the NASL in April 1977 On 1 October 1977, Pelé closed out his career in an exhibition match between the Cosmos and Santos. Santos arrived in New York after previously defeating the Seattle Sounders in New Jersey, 2 -- 0. The match was played in front of a sold out crowd at Giants Stadium and was televised in the United States 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 and Bobby Moore. International career Pelé 's first international match was a 2 -- 1 defeat against Argentina on 7 July 1957 at the Maracanã. In that match, he scored his first goal for Brazil aged 16 years and nine months, and he remains the youngest goalscorer for his country. 1958 World Cup Pelé ( number 10 ) dribbles past three Swedish players at the 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 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 the youngest player of that tournament, and at the time the youngest ever to play in the World Cup. Against France in the semifinal, Brazil was leading 2 -- 1 at halftime, and then Pelé scored a hat - trick, becoming the youngest in World Cup history to do so. 17 - year - old Pelé cries on the shoulder of goalkeeper Gilmar after Brazil won the 1958 World Cup Final 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 5 -- 2 in Stockholm, the capital. His 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, and was named best young player of the tournament. It was in the 1958 World Cup that Pelé began wearing a jersey with number 10. The event was the result of disorganization : the leaders of the Brazilian Federation did not send the shirt numbers of players and it was up to FIFA to choose the number 10 shirt to 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. 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 top scorer with 8 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 and a hat - trick against Paraguay. 1962 World Cup Pelé with Brazil taking on Italy 's Giovanni Trapattoni at the San Siro, Milan in 1963 When the 1962 World Cup started, Pelé was the best rated player in the world. In the first match of the 1962 World Cup in Chile, against Mexico, Pelé assisted the first goal and then scored the second one, after a run past four defenders, to go up 2 -- 0. He injured himself in the next game while attempting a long - range shot against Czechoslovakia. 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. 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. 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, 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. Brazil lost that game and Pelé, although still recovering, was brought back for the last crucial match against Portugal at Goodison Park in Liverpool by the Brazilian coach Vicente Feola. 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 at that time. 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 in relation 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, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Gérson, Carlos Alberto Torres, Tostão and Clodoaldo, is often considered to be the greatest football team in history. Pelé, front row second from right, before the match against Peru in the 1970 World Cup The front five of Jairzinho, Pelé, Gerson, Tostão and Rivelino 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, and in the first match against Czechoslovakia, Pelé gave Brazil a 2 -- 1 lead, by controlling Gerson 's long pass with his chest and then scoring. In this match Pelé attempted to lob goalkeeper Ivo Viktor from the half - way 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, Pelé nearly scored with a header that was saved by the England goalkeeper Gordon Banks. In the second half, he controlled a cross from Tostão before flicking the ball to Jairzinho who scored the only goal. Mário Zagallo ( Brazil 's 1970 coach with Pelé in 2008 ). Zagallo said of Pelé : `` A kid in Sweden ( 1958 World Cup ) gave signs of genius, and in Mexico ( 1970 World Cup ) he fulfilled all that promise and closed the book with a golden key. And I had the privilege to see it all from close up. '' Against Romania, Pelé scored two goals, with Brazil winning by a final score of 3 -- 2. In the quarterfinals against Peru, Brazil won 4 -- 2, with Pelé assisting Tostão for Brazil 's third goal. In their semi-final match, Brazil faced Uruguay for the first time since the 1950 World Cup final round match. Jairzinho put Brazil ahead 2 -- 1, and Pelé assisted Rivelino 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 goalkeepers left, while Pelé went to the goalkeepers 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 in the final at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Pelé scored the opening goal with a header over Italian defender Tarcisio Burgnich. He then made assists on 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 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 ''. Pelé 's last international match was on 18 July 1971 against Yugoslavia 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. Style of play Pelé dribbling past a defender while playing for Brazil, May 1960. Pelé has also been known for connecting the phrase `` The Beautiful Game '' with football. A prolific goalscorer, he was known for his ability to anticipate opponents in the area and finish off chances with an accurate and powerful shot with either foot. Pelé was also a hard - working team - player, and a complete forward, with exceptional vision and intelligence, who was recognised for his precise passing, and ability to link - up with teammates and provide them with assists. In his early career, he played in a variety of attacking positions. Although he usually operated inside the penalty area as a main striker or centre - forward, his wide range of skills also allowed him to play in a more withdrawn role, as an inside forward or second striker, or out wide. In his later career, he took on more of a deeper playmaking role behind the strikers, often functioning as an attacking midfielder. Pelé 's unique playing style combined speed, creativity, and technical skill with physical power, stamina, and athleticism. His excellent technique, balance, flair, agility, and dribbling skills enabled him to beat opponents with the ball, and frequently saw him use sudden changes of direction and elaborate feints in order 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. In spite of his relatively small stature, 5 feet 8 inches ( 1.73 m ), he excelled in the air, due to his heading accuracy and elevation. Renowned for his bending 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. In addition to his abilities as a footballer, Pelé was also known to be a fair and highly influential player, who stood out for his charismatic leadership and sportsmanship on the pitch. He also earned a reputation for often being a decisive player for his teams, due to his tendency to score crucial goals in important matches. Reception and legacy `` Pelé was one of the few who contradicted my theory : instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries. '' -- Andy Warhol. `` My name is Ronald Reagan, I 'm the President of the United States of America. But you do n't need to introduce yourself, because everyone knows who Pelé is. '' -- US President Ronald Reagan, greeting Pelé at the White House. Pelé is one of the most lauded players in history and is frequently ranked the best player ever. Among his contemporaries, Dutch star Johan Cruyff stated ; `` Pelé was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic. '' Brazil 's 1970 FIFA 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. '' 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. '' Pelé is the greatest player of all time. He reigned supreme for 20 years. There 's no one to compare with him. -- West Germany 's 1974 World Cup - winning captain Franz Beckenbauer. Former Real Madrid and Hungary star Ferenc Puskás 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 leading scorer at the 1958 World Cup ; `` 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 Saldanha 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 ( who was part of the ITV panel ) was asked ; `` How do you spell Pelé ? '', he replied with the response ; `` Easy : G-O-D. '' Accolades 1969 Brazil stamp commemorating Pelé 's landmark 1,000 th goal Since retiring, Pelé has 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 Balon D'or winner Michel Platini said ; `` There 's Pelé the man, and then Pelé the player. And to play like Pelé is to play like God. '' Joint FIFA Player of the Century, Argentina 's 1986 FIFA World Cup - winning captain Diego Maradona stated ; `` It 's too bad we never got along, but he was an awesome player ''. Prolific Brazilian striker Romário, winner of the 1994 FIFA World Cup and player of the tournament ; `` 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 said : `` Pelé is the greatest player in football history, and there will only be one Pelé '', while José Mourinho, 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 ''. Pelé playing for New York Cosmos at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India with a sold out stadium of 80,000 in 1977. Presenting Pelé the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award, former South African president Nelson Mandela 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 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 quipped, `` There are parts of the world where Jesus Christ is not so well known. '' Young visitors to the Pelé museum, opened in 2014, in Santos, Brazil In 1999, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics ( IFFHS ) voted Pelé the World Player of the Century. That same year, the International Olympic Committee elected him the Athlete of the Century. According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful league goal - scorer in the world, scoring 1281 goals in 1363 games, which included unofficial friendlies and tour games. In 1999, Time magazine named Pelé one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th 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. Personal Life Relationships and children Children of Pelé By Anizia Machado Sandra ( 1964 -- 2006 ) By Lenita Kurtz Flávia ( born 1968 ) By Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi Kelly Cristina ( born 1967 ) Edson ( born 1970 ) Jennifer ( born 1978 ) By Assíria Lemos Seixas Joshua ( born 1996 ) Celeste ( born 1996 ) A practicing Catholic, Pelé donated a signed jersey to Pope Francis. Accompanied with a signed football from Ronaldo, it is located in one of the Vatican Museums. Pelé has married three times, and has had several affairs, producing several children. On 21 February 1966, Pelé married Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi. They had two daughters and one son : Kelly Cristina ( born 13 January 1967 ), who married Dr. Arthur DeLuca, Jennifer ( b. 1978 ), and their son Edson ( `` Edinho '', b. 27 August 1970 ). The couple divorced in 1982. In May 2014, Edinho was jailed for 33 years 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, which was influential in launching her career. She was 17 when they started dating. In April 1994, Pelé married psychologist and gospel singer Assíria Lemos Seixas, who gave birth on 28 September 1996 to twins Joshua and Celeste through fertility treatments. The couple divorced in 2008. Pelé had at least two more children from former 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. Although she was recognized by courts as his biological daughter based on DNA evidence in 1993, Pelé never acknowledged his eldest daughter even after her death in 2006, nor her two children, Octavio and Gabriel. Pelé also had another daughter, Flávia Kurtz, in an extramarital affair in 1968 with journalist Lenita Kurtz. Flávia was recognized by him as his daughter. 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, São Paulo, whom he had been dating from 2010. They first met in the mid-1980s in New York, before meeting again in 2008. They married in July 2016. Politics In 1970, Pelé was investigated by the Brazilian military dictatorship for suspected leftist sympathies. Declassified documents showed Pelé was investigated after being handed a manifesto calling for the release of political prisoners. Pelé himself did not get further involved within political struggles in the country. In 1976, Pelé was on a Pepsi - sponsored trip in Lagos, Nigeria, when that year 's attempted Military Coup took place. Pelé was trapped in a hotel together with Arthur Ashe 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 n't leave the country for a couple of days. Later the airport was opened and Pelé left the country disguised as a pilot. In June 2013, he was criticized in public opinion for his conservative views. During the 2013 protests in Brazil, Pelé asked for people to `` forget the demonstrations '' and support the Brazil national team. 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 Russian President Vladimir Putin and Diego Maradona. A month later he collapsed from exhaustion and was taken to hospital. After football Pelé at the White House on 10 September 1986, with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Brazil President José Sarney In 1994, Pelé was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. In 1995, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso 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. '' Pelé left his position in 2001 after he 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 from Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace. Pelé also helped inaugurate the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, alongside supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Pelé, Brazil 's Extraordinary Minister for Sport, with US President Bill Clinton in Rio de Janeiro, 15 October 1997 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 accusations led to an eight - year feud between the pair. As a consequence of the affair, the President of FIFA, João Havelange banned Pelé from the draw for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in Las Vegas. Criticisms over the ban were perceived to have negatively affected Havelange 's chances of re-election as FIFA 's president in 1994. Pelé has published several autobiographies, starred in documentary films, and composed musical pieces, including the soundtrack for the film Pelé in 1977. He appeared in the 1981 film Escape to Victory, about a World War II - 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, and Sylvester Stallone. 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, had a cameo role in the satire film, Mike Bassett : England Manager. Pelé at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, 2006 In November 2007, Pelé was in Sheffield, England to mark the 150th anniversary of the world 's oldest football club, Sheffield F.C. Pelé was the guest of honour at Sheffield 's anniversary match against Inter Milan at Bramall Lane. 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 club Fulham 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, aiming to field a team in Major League Soccer. In August 2011, ESPN reported that Santos were considering bringing him out of retirement for a cameo role in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, although this turned out to be false. Brazil President Lula and Pelé in commemoration of 50 years since the first World Cup title won by Brazil in 1958, at the Palácio do Planalto, 2008 The most notable area of Pelé 's life since football is 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 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 General Assembly in Abuja, Nigeria. On 12 August 2012, Pelé was an attendee at the 2012 Olympic hunger summit hosted by UK Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street, 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 in London, following the handover section to the next host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro. Pelé with Vladimir Putin at the opening of the Confederations Cup 2017 in Saint Petersburg, Russia In March 2016, Pelé filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois seeking US $30 million in damages claiming violations under the Lanham Act 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. 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 or scissors - kick '', often used by Pelé. Honours International Brazil FIFA World Cup ( 3 ) : 1958, 1962, 1970 Club Santos Campeonato Brasileiro Série A ( 6 ) : 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 Copa Libertadores ( 2 ) : 1962, 1963 Intercontinental Cup ( 2 ) : 1962, 1963 Intercontinental Supercup : 1968 Campeonato Paulista ( 10 ) : 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973 Torneio Rio - São Paulo ( 4 ) : 1959, 1963, 1964 New York Cosmos North American Soccer League, Soccer Bowl : 1977 North American Soccer League, Atlantic Conference Championship : 1977 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, many observers complained that the Internet nature of the poll would have meant a skewed demographic of younger fans who would have seen Maradona play, but not Pelé. 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. Santos Copa Libertadores Top Scorer : 1965 Campeonato Paulista Top Scorer ( 11 ) : 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1973 Torneio Rio - São Paulo Top Scorer : 1963 Bola de Prata : 1970 Brazil FIFA World Cup Best Young Player : 1958 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball ( Best Player ) : 1970 Copa America Best Player : 1959 Copa América Top Scorer : 1959 Other awards FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur : 2013 Ballon d'Or ( 7 ) : 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1970 - Le nouveau palmarès ( the new winners ) FIFA Player of the Century : 2000 FIFA Order of Merit : 1984 FIFA Centennial Award : 2004 FIFA 100 Greatest Living Footballers : 2004 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year : 1970 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award : 2005 Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award : 2000 Greatest football player to have ever played the game, by Golden Foot : 2012 Athlete of the Century, by Reuters News Agency : 1999 Athlete of the Century, elected by International Olympic Committee : 1999 South American Footballer of the Year : 1973 Football Player of the Century, elected by France Football 's Ballon d'Or Winners : 1999 Inducted into the American National Soccer Hall of Fame : 1992 World Team of the 20th Century : 1998 TIME : One of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century : 1999 World Soccer Greatest XI of All Time : 2013 FWA Tribute Award : 2018 Orders Knight of the Order of Rio Branco : 1967 Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( honorary knighthood ) : 1997 Personal Records Brazil national football team : All - time leading goalscorer : 77 goals ( 95 goals including unofficial friendlies ). Santos : All - time leading goalscorer : 643 goals in 656 competitive games. Intercontinental Cup : All - time leading goalscorer : 7 goals World record number of hat - tricks : 92 Guinness World Records : Most career goals ( football ) : 1283 goals in 1363 games Guinness World Records : Most FIFA World Cup winners ' medals : three Guinness World Records : Youngest winner of a FIFA World Cup : 17 years and 249 days in 1958 FIFA World Cup Youngest goalscorer in the FIFA World Cup : 17 years and 239 days ( Brazil v Wales 1958 ) Youngest player to score a hat - trick in the FIFA World Cup : 17 years and 244 days ( Brazil v France 1958 ) Youngest player to play in a FIFA World Cup Final : 17 years and 249 days ( Brazil v Sweden 1958 ) Youngest goalscorer in a FIFA World Cup Final : 17 years and 249 days ( Brazil v Sweden 1958 ) Career Statistics Main article : Pelé statistics Club Pelé 's goalscoring record is often reported by FIFA as being 1281 goals in 1363 games. This figure includes goals scored by Pelé in friendly club matches, like 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. He was listed in the Guinness World Records for most career goals scored in football. The tables below record every goal Pelé scored in major club competitions for Santos and the New York Cosmos. Club Season Campeonato Paulista Rio - São Paulo Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Domestic competitions Sub-total International Competitions Total Official Total inc. Friendlies Copa Libertadores Intercontinental Cup Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Santos 1956 0 * 0 * 2 * 2 * 1957 14 + 15 * 19 + 17 * 9 5 38 * 41 * 38 * 41 * 67 * 57 * 1958 38 58 8 8 46 66 46 * 66 * 60 * 80 * 1959 32 45 7 6 4 * 2 * 39 51 43 * 53 * 83 * 100 * 1960 30 33 0 0 0 33 33 0 0 0 0 33 * 33 * 67 * 59 * 1961 26 47 7 8 5 * 7 33 55 0 0 0 0 38 * 62 * 74 * 110 * 1962 26 37 0 0 5 * 2 * 26 37 4 * 4 * 5 37 * 48 * 50 * 62 * 1963 19 22 8 14 4 * 8 27 36 4 * 5 * 36 51 * 52 * 67 * 1964 21 34 6 * 7 25 37 0 * 0 * 0 0 31 * 44 * 47 * 57 * 1965 30 49 7 5 4 * 2 * 37 54 7 * 8 0 0 48 * 64 * 66 * 97 * 1966 14 13 0 * 0 * 5 * 2 * 14 * 13 * 0 0 0 0 19 * 15 * 38 * 31 * 1967 18 17 14 * 9 * 32 * 26 * 0 0 0 0 32 * 26 * 65 * 56 * 1968 21 17 17 * 11 * 38 * 28 * 0 0 0 0 38 * 28 * 73 * 55 * 1969 25 26 12 * 12 * 37 * 38 * 0 0 0 0 37 * 38 * 61 * 57 * 1970 15 7 13 * 4 * 28 * 11 * 0 0 0 0 28 * 11 * 54 * 47 * 1971 19 8 21 40 9 0 0 0 0 40 9 72 * 60 * 1972 20 9 16 5 36 14 0 0 0 0 36 14 74 * 55 * 1973 19 11 30 19 49 30 0 0 0 0 49 30 66 * 45 * 10 17 9 27 10 0 0 0 0 27 10 49 * 19 * Total 412 470 53 49 173 * 100 * 638 * 619 * 15 17 7 656 643 1120 1033 * * Indicates that the number was deduced from the list of rsssf.com and this list of Pelé games. Club Season League Post season Other Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals NY Cosmos 9 5 -- -- 14 10 23 15 1976 22 13 18 11 42 26 1977 25 13 6 11 6 42 23 Total 56 31 8 6 43 27 107 64 International See also : List of international goals scored by Pelé Pelé is the top scorer of the Brazil national football team with 77 goals in 92 official appearances. In addition, he scored 18 times in 22 unofficial games. This makes an unofficial total of 114 games and 95 goals. He also scored 12 goals and is credited with 10 assists in 14 World Cup appearances, including 4 goals and 7 assists in 1970. Pelé shares with Uwe Seeler, Miroslav Klose and Cristiano Ronaldo the achievement of being the only players to have scored in four separate World Cup tournaments. # Date Venue Home Result Visitor Competition Goals Cumulative Goals 1. 7 July 1957 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1 -- 2 Argentina Roca Cup 2. 10 July 1957 São Paulo Brazil 2 -- 0 Argentina Roca Cup 3. 4 May 1958 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 5 -- 1 Paraguay Oswaldo Cruz Cup 4. 14 May 1958 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 4 -- 0 Bulgaria Friendly 0 5. 18 May 1958 São Paulo Brazil 3 -- 1 Bulgaria Friendly 5 6. 15 June 1958 Gothenburg Brazil 2 -- 0 Soviet Union World Cup 0 5 7. 19 June 1958 Gothenburg Brazil 1 -- 0 Wales World Cup 6 8. 24 June 1958 Stockholm Brazil 5 -- 2 France World Cup 9 9. 29 June 1958 Stockholm Brazil 5 -- 2 Sweden World Cup 11 10. 10 March 1959 Buenos Aires Brazil 2 -- 2 Peru Copa América 12 11. 15 March 1959 Buenos Aires Brazil 3 -- 0 Chile Copa América 14 12. 21 March 1959 Buenos Aires Brazil 4 -- 2 Bolivia Copa América 15 13. 26 March 1959 Buenos Aires Brazil 3 -- 1 Uruguay Copa América 0 15 14. 29 March 1959 Buenos Aires Brazil 4 -- 1 Paraguay Copa América 18 15. 4 April 1959 Buenos Aires Argentina 1 -- 1 Brazil Copa América 19 16. 13 May 1959 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 0 England Friendly 0 19 17. 17 September 1959 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 7 -- 0 Chile O'Higgins Cup 22 18. 20 September 1959 São Paulo Brazil 1 -- 0 Chile O'Higgins Cup 0 22 19. 29 April 1960 Cairo United Arab Republic 0 -- 5 Brazil Friendly 0 22 20. 1 May 1960 Alexandria United Arab Republic 1 -- 3 Brazil Friendly 25 21. 6 May 1960 Cairo United Arab Republic 0 -- 3 Brazil Friendly 0 25 22. 10 May 1960 Copenhagen Denmark 3 -- 4 Brazil Friendly 0 25 23. 9 July 1960 Montevideo Uruguay 0 -- 1 Brazil Atlantic Cup 0 25 24. 12 July 1960 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 5 -- 1 Argentina Atlantic Cup 26 25. 21 April 1962 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 6 -- 0 Paraguay Oswaldo Cruz Cup 27 26. 24 April 1962 São Paulo Brazil 4 -- 0 Paraguay Oswaldo Cruz Cup 29 27. 6 May 1962 São Paulo Brazil 2 -- 1 Portugal Friendly 0 29 28. 9 May 1962 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1 -- 0 Portugal Friendly 30 29. 12 May 1962 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 3 -- 1 Wales Friendly 31 30. 16 May 1962 São Paulo Brazil 3 -- 1 Wales Friendly 33 31. 30 May 1962 Viña del Mar Brazil 2 -- 0 Mexico World Cup 34 32. 2 June 1962 Viña del Mar Brazil 0 -- 0 Czechoslovakia World Cup 0 34 33. 13 April 1963 São Paulo Brazil 2 -- 3 Argentina Roca Cup 0 34 34. 16 April 1963 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 5 -- 2 Argentina Roca Cup 37 35. 21 April 1963 Lisbon Portugal 1 -- 0 Brazil Friendly 0 37 36. 28 April 1963 Paris France 2 -- 3 Brazil Friendly 40 37. 2 May 1963 Amsterdam Netherlands 1 -- 0 Brazil Friendly 0 40 38. 5 May 1963 Hamburg West Germany 1 -- 2 Brazil Friendly 41 39. 12 May 1963 Milan Italy 3 -- 0 Brazil Friendly 0 41 40. 30 May 1964 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 5 -- 1 England Taça das Nações 42 41. 3 June 1964 São Paulo Brazil 0 -- 3 Argentina Taça das Nações 0 42 42. 7 June 1964 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 4 -- 1 Portugal Taça das Nações 43 43. 2 June 1965 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 5 -- 0 Belgium Friendly 46 44. 6 June 1965 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 0 West Germany Friendly 47 45. 9 June 1965 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 0 -- 0 Argentina Friendly 0 47 46. 17 June 1965 Orano Algeria 0 -- 3 Brazil Friendly 48 47. 24 June 1965 Porto Portugal 0 -- 0 Brazil Friendly 0 48 48. 30 June 1965 Stockholm Sweden 1 -- 2 Brazil Friendly 49 49. 4 July 1965 Moscow Soviet Union 0 -- 3 Brazil Friendly 51 50. 21 November 1965 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 2 Soviet Union Friendly 52 51. 19 May 1966 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1 -- 0 Chile Friendly 0 52 52. 4 June 1966 São Paulo Brazil 4 -- 0 Peru Friendly 53 53. 8 June 1966 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 1 Poland Friendly 0 53 54. 12 June 1966 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 1 Czechoslovakia Friendly 55 55. 15 June 1966 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 2 Czechoslovakia Friendly 56 56. 25 June 1966 Glasgow Scotland 1 -- 1 Brazil Friendly 0 56 57. 30 June 1966 Göteborg Sweden 2 -- 3 Brazil Friendly 0 56 58. 12 July 1966 Liverpool Brazil 2 -- 0 Bulgaria World Cup 57 59. 19 July 1966 Liverpool Portugal 3 -- 1 Brazil World Cup 0 57 60. 25 July 1968 Asunción Paraguay 0 -- 4 Brazil Oswaldo Cruz Cup 59 61. 28 July 1968 Asunción Paraguay 1 -- 0 Brazil Oswaldo Cruz Cup 0 59 62. 31 October 1968 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1 -- 2 Mexico Friendly 0 59 63. 3 November 1968 Belo Horizonte Brazil 2 -- 1 Mexico Friendly 60 64. 6 November 1968 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 - 1 FIFA XI Friendly 0 60 65. 14 December 1968 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 2 West Germany Friendly 0 60 66. 17 December 1968 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 3 -- 3 Yugoslavia Friendly 61 67. 7 April 1969 Porto Alegre Brazil 2 -- 1 Peru Friendly 0 61 68. 9 April 1969 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 3 -- 2 Peru Friendly 62 69. 12 June 1969 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 1 England Friendly 0 62 70. 6 August 1969 Bogotá Colombia 0 -- 2 Brazil World Cup Qualifiers 0 62 71. 10 August 1969 Caracas Venezuela 0 -- 5 Brazil World Cup Qualifiers 64 72. 17 August 1969 Asunción Paraguay 0 -- 3 Brazil World Cup Qualifiers 0 64 73. 21 August 1969 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 6 -- 2 Colombia World Cup Qualifiers 65 74. 24 August 1969 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 6 -- 0 Venezuela World Cup Qualifiers 67 75. 31 August 1969 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1 -- 0 Paraguay World Cup Qualifiers 68 76. 4 March 1970 Porto Alegre Brazil 0 -- 2 Argentina Friendly 0 68 77. 8 March 1970 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 1 Argentina Friendly 69 78. 22 March 1970 São Paulo Brazil 5 -- 0 Chile Friendly 71 79. 26 March 1970 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 1 Chile Friendly 0 71 80. 12 April 1970 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 0 -- 0 Paraguay Friendly 0 71 81. 26 April 1970 São Paulo Brazil 0 -- 0 Bulgaria Friendly 0 71 82. 29 April 1970 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1 -- 0 Austria Friendly 0 71 83. 3 June 1970 Guadalajara Brazil 4 -- 1 Czechoslovakia World Cup 72 84. 7 June 1970 Guadalajara Brazil 1 -- 0 England World Cup 0 72 85. 10 June 1970 Guadalajara Brazil 3 -- 2 Romania World Cup 74 86. 14 June 1970 Guadalajara Brazil 4 -- 2 Peru World Cup 0 74 87. 17 June 1970 Guadalajara Brazil 3 -- 1 Uruguay World Cup 0 74 88. 21 June 1970 Mexico City Brazil 4 -- 1 Italy World Cup 75 89. 30 September 1970 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 1 Mexico Friendly 0 75 90. 4 October 1970 Santiago de Chile Chile 1 -- 5 Brazil Friendly 76 91. 11 July 1971 São Paulo Brazil 1 -- 1 Austria Friendly 77 92. 18 July 1971 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 2 Yugoslavia Friendly 0 77 Unofficial international appearances ( 22 ) and goals ( 18 ) # Date Venue Home Result Visitor Goals Cumulative Goals 1. 1958 - 05 - 21 São Paulo Brazil 5 -- 0 Corinthians 0 0 2. 1960 - 05 - 08 Malmö Malmö FF 1 -- 7 Brazil 3. 1960 - 05 - 12 Milano Inter Milan 2 -- 2 Brazil 4. 1960 - 05 - 16 Lisbon Sporting Lisbon 0 -- 4 Brazil 0 5. 1963 - 05 - 03 Eindhoven PSV Eindhoven 0 -- 1 Brazil 0 6. 1966 - 05 - 01 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2 -- 0 Rio Grande do Sul 0 7. 1966 - 06 - 21 Madrid Atlético Madrid 3 -- 5 Brazil 7 8. 1966 - 07 - 04 Stockholm AIK 2 -- 4 Brazil 9 9. 1966 - 07 - 06 Malmö Malmö FF 1 -- 3 Brazil 11 10. 1968 - 11 - 06 Rio de Janeiro FIFA XI ( Friendly match ) 2 -- 1 Brazil 0 11 11. 1968 - 11 - 13 Curitiba Coritiba 1 -- 2 Brazil 0 11 12. 1969 - 07 - 06 Salvador Bahia 0 -- 4 Brazil 12 13. 1969 - 07 - 09 Aracaju Rio Grande do Sul 2 -- 8 Brazil 0 12 14. 1969 - 07 - 13 Recife Pernambuco 1 -- 6 Brazil 13 15. 1969 - 08 - 01 Bogotá Millonarios 0 -- 2 Brazil 0 13 16. 1969 - 09 - 03 Belo Horizonte Atlético Mineiro 2 -- 1 Brazil 14 17. 1970 - 03 - 14 Rio de Janeiro Bangu 1 -- 1 Brazil 0 14 18. 1970 - 04 - 05 Manaus Amazonas A 1 -- 4 Brazil 15 19. 1970 - 04 - 19 Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais 1 -- 3 Brazil 0 15 20. 1970 - 05 - 06 Guadalajara Guadalajara XI 0 -- 3 Brazil 16 21. 1970 - 05 - 17 León León XI 2 -- 5 Brazil 18 22. 1970 - 05 - 24 Irapuato Irapuato 0 -- 3 Brazil 0 18 FIFA World Cup goals # Date Venue Opponent Score Result World Cup Round 1. 1958 - 06 - 19 Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden Wales 1 -- 0 1 -- 0 1958 Quarterfinal 2. 1958 - 06 - 24 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden France 1 -- 3 2 -- 5 1958 Semifinal 3. 1958 - 06 - 24 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden France 1 -- 4 2 -- 5 1958 Semifinal 4. 1958 - 06 - 24 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden France 1 -- 5 2 -- 5 1958 Semifinal 5. 1958 - 06 - 29 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden Sweden 1 -- 3 2 -- 5 1958 Final 6. 1958 - 06 - 29 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden Sweden 2 -- 5 2 -- 5 1958 Final 7. 1962 - 05 - 30 Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile Mexico 2 -- 0 2 -- 0 1962 Group stage 8. 1966 - 07 - 12 Goodison Park, Liverpool, England Bulgaria 1 -- 0 2 -- 0 1966 Group stage 9. 1970 - 06 - 03 Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico Czechoslovakia 2 -- 1 4 -- 1 1970 Group stage 10. 1970 - 06 - 10 Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico Romania 1 -- 0 3 -- 2 1970 Group stage 11. 1970 - 06 - 10 Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico Romania 3 -- 1 3 -- 2 1970 Group stage 12. 1970 - 06 - 21 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Italy 1 -- 0 4 -- 1 1970 Final Source : Team Year Tournament Friendly Total Goal average Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Brazil 1957 0 0 1.00 1958 6 7 9 1.13 1959 8 11 0 9 11 1.22 1960 6 0.89 1961 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1962 8 8 1.00 1963 5 7 7 0.88 1964 0 0 0.67 1965 0 0 8 9 8 9 1.13 1966 7 9 5 0.85 1967 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1968 0 0 7 7 0.63 1969 6 6 9 7 0.71 1970 6 9 15 8 0.57 1971 0 0 0.50 Total 41 43 51 34 92 77 0.84 Career total ( incl. unofficial matches ) 41 43 69 56 114 95 0.83 Summary Pelé numbers differ between sources mostly due to friendly games. The RSSSF states that Pelé scored 767 goals in 831 official games, 1281 goals in 1365 overall while he was active, and 1284 in 1375 taking into account benefit games after retirement. The following table is a compendium of sources that include data from Santos and FIFA official websites among others. Matches Goals Ratio Domestic Tournaments 702 656 0.94 International Tournaments 18 24 1.33 Brazil national football team 92 77 0.84 Official 812 757 0.93 Friendly matches and defunct Tournaments 554 526 0.95 Total 1366 1283 0.94 Matches Goals Ratio International matches ( Official and Friendlies ) 503 479 0.95 Domestic matches ( Official and Friendlies ) 863 804 0.93 Total 1366 1283 0.94 Matches Goals Ratio Santos FC 1116 1091 0.98 New York Cosmos 111 65 0.59 Brazil 114 95 0.83 Other 25 32 1.28 Total 1366 1283 0.94 See also Association football portal Brazil portal Notes Jump up ^ Pelé presumed that it was an insult since the word had no meaning in Portuguese. He discovered in the 2000s that the word meant `` miracle '' in Hebrew. Jump up ^ The mark was surpassed by Northern Ireland 's Norman Whiteside in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He scored his first World Cup goal against Wales in quarter - finals, the only goal of the match, to help Brazil advance to semifinals, while becoming the youngest ever World Cup goalscorer at 17 years and 239 days. Jump up ^ Pelé would stop in the middle of a penalty kick before shooting to the ball. Goalkeepers complained that this gave strikers an unfair advantage. In the 1970s, FIFA banned this rule from competition. Jump up ^ The 1973 Paulista was held jointly with Portuguesa. Jump up ^ The 1964 Torneio Rio - São Paulo was held jointly with Botafogo. Jump up ^ Soccer Europe compiled this list from The Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. Jump up ^ Statistics from 1957 to 1974 for the Taça de Prata, Taça Brasil and Copa Libertadores were taken from Soccer Europe website. Soccer Europe lists The Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation, but do not give a season - by - season breakdown. Jump up ^ In 1957, the Paulista Championship was divided in two phases : Blue Series and White Series. In the first, Pelé scored 19 goals in 14 games, and in the Blue Series, scored 17 goals in 15 games. See Jump up ^ This number was inferred from a Santos fixture list from rsssf.com and this list of games Pelé played. Jump up ^ Statistics from 1957 to 1974 for the Taça de Prata, Taça Brasil and Copa Libertadores were taken from Soccer Europe website. Soccer Europe lists The Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation, but do not give a season - by - season breakdown. References ^ Jump up to : Pelé & Fish 1977, p. 18 -- 19. ^ Jump up to : Pelé 2008, p. 14. Jump up ^ Narcía, Eva. `` Un siglo, diez historias '' ( in Spanish ). BBC World Service. Retrieved 21 June 2010. Jump up ^ `` From Edson to Pelé : my changing identity ''. The Guardian. London. 12 May 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2006. ^ Jump up to : Winterman, Denise ( 4 January 2006 ). `` Taking the Pelé ''. BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` Pelé ''. Biography.com, via A&E Television Networks. Retrieved 18 July 2017. Jump up ^ Heizer 1997, p. 173. Jump up ^ Magill 1999, p. 2950. ^ Jump up to : `` Pele Speaks of Benefits of Futebol de Salão ''. International Confederation of Futebol de Salão. 24 May 2006. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Jump up ^ Massarela, Louis ( 7 September 2016 ). `` Exclusive interview : Pele on his Santos years ''. FourFourTwo. Retrieved 28 July 2017. Jump up ^ Marcus 1976, p. 20. ^ Jump up to : `` Pele helps Brazil to World Cup title ''. History ( U.S. TV channel ). Retrieved 18 July 2017. Jump up ^ Da Mata, Alessandro ( 26 October 2007 ). `` Mesário da estréia de Pelé lembra atrapalhada '' ( in Portuguese ). Sâo Paulo : LANCE !. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Jump up ^ Chelala, Cesar ( 2014 ). `` Pele, Maradona and Messi : soccer 's holy trinity ''. Japan Times. Jump up ^ `` Campeonato Paulista : Artilheiros da história -- 2 ''. Folha Online ( in Portuguese ). 17 January 2008. Jump up ^ Unzelte, Celso ; Varanda, Pedro ; Cammarota, Giuseppe ; Barreto Berwanger, Alexandre Magno ( 2011 ). `` Fichas Técnicas De Jogos Que Decidiram O Torneio Rio - Sâo Paulo '' ( in Portuguese ). Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. Jump up ^ Matta, Fernando ; Varanda, Pedro ; Barreto Berwanger, Alexandre Magno ; Unzelte, Celso ; Leme de Arruda, Marcelo ( 2009 ). `` Torneio Rio - São Paulo 1960 '' ( in Portuguese ). Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Jump up ^ `` Santos revive spirit of Pele ''. BBC Sport. 16 February 2003. Retrieved 5 May 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` What they said about Pele '' FIFA. 23 Oct 2010. Jump up ^ Dunmore 2015, p. 290. Jump up ^ Pierrend, José Luis ; Beuker, John ; Ciullini, Pablo ; Gorgazzi, Osvaldo. `` Copa Libertadores de América 1962 ''. Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 29 January 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Intercontinental Cups 1962 and 1963 ''. FIFA. 15 January 2015 Jump up ^ `` Extraordinary Pele crowns Santos in Lisbon ''. FIFA. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012. Jump up ^ Vickery, Tim ( 23 December 2009 ). `` Will South Africa 2010 produce a new Pele ? ''. BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 May 2011. Jump up ^ `` 1963 : With an amazing Pele, Brazil 's Santos wins their second Copa Libertadores Tournament ''. CONMEBOL. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2016. ^ Jump up to : Bassorelli, Gerardo. `` En los años sesenta, Peñarol y Santos protagonizaron inolvidables batallas por la Libertadores, generando una rivalidad que transformó a este duelo en el primer clásico que tuvo la Copa ''. LaRed21. Retrieved 30 July 2017. Jump up ^ Andrés, Juan Pablo ; Ballesteros, Frank ; Di Maggio, Robert. `` Copa Libertadores - Topscorers ''. Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Jump up ^ `` Pele scores 1,000 th goal ''. History.com. Retrieved 16 July 2017. Jump up ^ `` Pele receives tribute for 1959 goal ''. Times of Malta. 31 August 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2017. ^ Jump up to : `` Remembering Pele 's gol de placa ''. FIFA. Retrieved 10 May 2011. Jump up ^ Bellos 2003, p. 244. ^ Jump up to : `` Pelé ( Brazilian Athlete ) ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 July 2017. Jump up ^ Santos -- Pelé edges Eusebio as Santos defend title FIFA. 23 April 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2011 Jump up ^ `` Pelé 's Hail Mary In Santo Domingo ''. Life. 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015. Jump up ^ Dunmore 2011, p. 198. Jump up ^ Freedman 2014, p. 165. Jump up ^ `` Seven the number for Pele ''. FIFA. 2007. 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Wikiquote has quotations related to : Pelé Official website Pelé -- FIFA competition record Pelé at National Soccer Hall of Fame Pelé : A Legend Looks Back -- slideshow by Life magazine List of Goals for Brazil Pelé on IMDb Details of Pelé 's international tours for Santos and Cosmos American Soccer History Archives -- click on a year and then scroll down to the bottom of the page to see friendly tournaments Play Soccer with Pele Pelé at Santos official website Pelé at International Football Hall of Fame Pelé at Planet World Cup Awards 1958 FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament Goalkeeper Harry Gregg Defenders Djalma Santos Hilderaldo Bellini Nílton Santos Midfielders Danny Blanchflower Didi Gunnar Gren Raymond Kopa Forwards Pelé Garrincha Just Fontaine 1970 FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament Goalkeeper Ladislao Mazurkiewicz Defenders Carlos Alberto Atilio Ancheta Franz Beckenbauer Giacinto Facchetti Midfielders Gérson Rivellino Bobby Charlton Forwards Pelé Gerd Müller Jairzinho World Team of the 20th Century Goalkeeper Lev Yashin Defenders Carlos Alberto Franz Beckenbauer Bobby Moore Nílton Santos Midfielders Johan Cruijff / / Alfredo Di Stéfano Michel Platini Forwards Garrincha Diego Maradona Pelé FIFA World Cup Golden Ball Best Player 1930 : Nasazzi 1934 : Meazza 1938 : Leônidas 1950 : Zizinho 1954 : Puskás 1958 : Didi 1962 : Garrincha 1966 : Charlton 1970 : Pelé 1974 : Cruijff 1978 : Kempes Golden Ball 1982 : Rossi 1986 : Maradona 1990 : Schillaci 1994 : Romário 1998 : Ronaldo 2002 : Kahn 2006 : Zidane 2010 : Forlán 2014 : Messi 2018 : Modrić Golden Ball was first awarded in 1982. FIFA World Cup Silver Ball 2nd Best Player 1930 : Stábile 1934 : Sindelar 1938 : Piola 1950 : Schiaffino 1954 : Kocsis 1958 : Pelé 1962 : Masopust 1966 : Moore 1970 : Gérson 1974 : Beckenbauer 1978 : Rossi Silver Ball 1982 : Falcão 1986 : Schumacher 1990 : Matthäus 1994 : Baggio 1998 : Šuker 2002 : Ronaldo 2006 : Cannavaro 2010 : Sneijder 2014 : Müller 2018 : Hazard Silver Ball was first awarded in 1982. FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Best Young Player 1958 : Pelé 1962 : Albert 1966 : Beckenbauer 1970 : Cubillas 1974 : Żmuda 1978 : Cabrini 1982 : Amoros 1986 : Scifo 1990 : Prosinečki 1994 : Overmars 1998 : Owen 2002 : Donovan Best Young Player Award 2006 : Podolski 2010 : Müller 2014 : Pogba 2018 : Mbappé Best Young Player was first awarded in 2006. FIFA 100 UEFA Baggio Ballack Banks Baresi Van Basten Beckenbauer Beckham Bergkamp Bergomi Best Boniek Boniperti Breitner Buffon Butragueño Cantona Ceulemans Charlton Cruyff Dalglish Dasayev Davids Del Piero Desailly Deschamps Emre Eusébio Facchetti Figo Fontaine Gullit Hagi Henry Kahn Keane Keegan R. van de Kerkhof W. van de Kerkhof Klinsmann Kluivert Kopa B. Laudrup M. Laudrup Lineker Luis Enrique Maier Maldini Masopust Matthäus Müller Nedvěd Neeskens Nesta Van Nistelrooy Owen Papin Pfaff Pirès Platini Puskás Raúl Rensenbrink Rijkaard Rivera Rossi Rui Costa Rummenigge Rüştü Schmeichel Seedorf Seeler Shearer Shevchenko Stoichkov Šuker Thuram Totti Trésor Trezeguet Van der Elst Vieira Vieri Zidane Zoff CONMEBOL Carlos Alberto Batistuta Cafu Crespo Cubillas Di Stéfano Falcão Figueroa Francescoli Júnior Kempes Maradona Passarella Pelé Rivaldo Rivelino Roberto Carlos Romário Romero Ronaldinho Ronaldo Djalma Santos Nílton Santos Saviola Sívori Sócrates Valderrama Verón Zamorano Zanetti Zico CAF Diouf Milla Okocha Abedi Pelé Weah CONCACAF Akers Hamm Sánchez AFC Hong Nakata Brazilian Football Museum -- Hall of Fame Bebeto Carlos Alberto Torres Didi Djalma Santos Falcão Garrincha Gérson Gilmar Jairzinho Julinho Nílton Santos Pelé Rivaldo Rivelino Roberto Carlos Romário Ronaldinho Ronaldo Sócrates Taffarel Tostão Vavá Zagallo Zico Zizinho Honorable mentions : Domingos da Guia Leônidas South American Footballer of the Year El Mundo award 1971 : Tostão 1972 : Cubillas 1973 : Pelé 1974 : Figueroa 1975 : Figueroa 1976 : Figueroa 1977 : Zico 1978 : Kempes 1979 : Maradona 1980 : Maradona 1981 : Zico 1982 : Zico 1983 : Sócrates 1984 : Francescoli 1985 : Romero 1986 : Alzamendi El País award 1987 : Valderrama 1988 : Paz 1989 : Bebeto 1990 : Amarilla 1991 : Ruggeri 1992 : Raí 1993 : Valderrama 1994 : Cafu 1995 : Francescoli 1996 : Chilavert 1997 : Salas 1998 : Palermo 1999 : Saviola 2000 : Romário 2001 : Riquelme 2002 : Cardozo 2003 : Tevez 2004 : Tevez 2005 : Tevez 2006 : Fernández 2007 : Cabañas 2008 : Verón 2009 : Verón 2010 : D'Alessandro 2011 : Neymar 2012 : Neymar 2013 : Ronaldinho 2014 : Gutiérrez 2015 : Sánchez 2016 : Borja 2017 : Luan Copa América top scorers 1916 : Gradín 1917 : Romano 1919 : Friedenreich & Neco 1920 : Pérez & Romano 1921 : Libonatti 1922 : Francia 1923 : Aguirre & Petrone 1924 : Petrone 1925 : Seoane 1926 : Arellano 1927 : Carricaberry & Luna & Figueroa & Petrone & Scarone 1929 : González 1935 : Masantonio 1937 : Toro 1939 : Fernández 1941 : Marvezzi 1942 : Masantonio & Moreno 1945 : Méndez & de Freitas 1946 : Medina 1947 : Falero 1949 : Jair 1953 : Molina 1955 : Micheli 1956 : Hormazábal 1957 : Maschio & Ambrois 1959 ( Argentina ) : Pelé 1959 ( Ecuador ) : Sanfilippo 1963 : Raffo 1967 : Artime 1975 : Luque & Díaz 1979 : Peredo & Morel 1983 : Burruchaga & Dinamite & Aguilera 1987 : Iguarán 1989 : Bebeto 1991 : Batistuta 1993 : Dolgetta 1995 : Batistuta & García 1997 : Hernández 1999 : Rivaldo & Ronaldo 2001 : Aristizábal 2004 : Adriano 2007 : Robinho 2011 : Guerrero 2015 : Guerrero & Vargas 2016 : Vargas CONMEBOL Copa América Player of the Tournament South American Nations Championship Player of the tournament 1916 : Gradín 1917 : Scarone 1919 : Friedenreich 1920 : Piendibene 1921 : Tesoriere 1922 : Fortes 1923 : Nasazzi 1924 : Petrone 1925 : Seoane 1926 : Andrade 1927 : Seoane 1929 : Ferreira 1935 : Nasazzi 1937 : Mata 1939 : Fernández 1941 : Livingstone 1942 : Varela 1945 : da Guia 1946 : Pedernera 1947 : Moreno 1949 : Ademir 1953 : Herrera 1955 : Hormazábal 1956 : Míguez 1957 : Sívori 1959 -- 1 : Pelé 1959 -- 2 : Silveira 1963 : Blacut 1967 : Rocha Copa América Player of the tournament 1975 : Cubillas 1979 : Caszely 1983 : Francescoli 1987 : Valderrama 1989 : Sosa 1991 : Rodríguez 1993 : Goycochea 1995 : Francescoli 1997 : Ronaldo 1999 : Rivaldo 2001 : Guevara 2004 : Adriano 2007 : Robinho 2011 : Suárez 2015 : Messi 2016 : Sánchez Copa Libertadores top scorers 1960 : Spencer 1961 : Panzutto 1962 : Coutinho, Raymondi & Spencer 1963 : Sanfilippo 1964 : Rodríguez 1965 : Pelé 1966 : Onega 1967 : Raffo 1968 : Tupãzinho 1969 : Ferrero 1970 : Bertocchi & Más 1971 : Artime & Castronovo 1972 : Cubillas, Ramírez, Rojas & Toninho Guerreiro 1973 : Caszely 1974 : Morena, Rocha & Terto 1975 : Morena & Ramírez 1976 : Palhinha 1977 : Scotta 1978 : La Rosa & Scotta 1979 : Miltão & Oré 1980 : Victorino 1981 : Zico 1982 : Morena 1983 : Luzardo 1984 : Tita 1985 : Sánchez 1986 : de Lima 1987 : Gareca 1988 : Iguarán 1989 : Aguilera & Amarilla 1990 : Samaniego 1991 : Gaúcho 1992 : Palhinha 1993 : Almada 1994 : Rivas 1995 : Jardel 1996 : de Ávila 1997 : Acosta 1998 : Sérgio João 1999 : Bonilla, Fernando Baiano, Gauchinho, Morán & Sosa 2000 : Luizão 2001 : Lopes 2002 : Rodrigo Mendes 2003 : M. Delgado & Ricardo Oliveira 2004 : Luís Fabiano 2005 : Salcedo 2006 : Aloísio, Borja, Calderón, A. Delgado, Ereros, Farías, Fernandão, Marcinho, Nilmar, Montenegro, Pavone, Quinteros, Urrutia & Washington 2007 : Cabañas 2008 : Cabañas & Moreno 2009 : Boselli 2010 : Thiago Ribeiro 2011 : Nanni & Wallyson 2012 : Alustiza & Neymar 2013 : Jô 2014 : Dos Santos & Olivera 2015 : Bou 2016 : Calleri 2017 : Sand Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award 2000 : Pelé 2001 : Steve Redgrave 2002 : Peter Blake 2003 : Gary Player 2004 : Arne Næss Jr. 2005 : No award 2006 : Johan Cruyff 2007 : Franz Beckenbauer 2008 : Sergey Bubka 2009 : No award 2010 : Nawal El Moutawakel 2011 : Zinedine Zidane 2012 : Bobby Charlton 2013 : Sebastian Coe 2014 : No award 2015 : No award 2016 : Niki Lauda 2017 : No award 2018 : Edwin Moses Members of the National Soccer Hall of Fame Players Agoos Akers Alberto Annis D. Armstrong Auld Bachmeier Bahr Balboa Barr Beardsworth Beckenbauer Bernabei Bogićević Bookie Borghi Boulos Brittan D. Brown G. Brown J. Brown Caligiuri Caraffi Carenza Chacurian Chastain Chesney Child Chinaglia Clavijo Colombo Coombes B. Craddock Danilo Davis Dick DiOrio Donelli Dooley Douglas Duggan Dunn Ely Fawcett Ferguson T. Fleming Florie Foudy Fricker Fryer Gaetjens Gallagher Gardassanich Gentle Getzinger Glover Gonsalves Gormley Govier Granitza Gryzik Hamm Harker Harkes Heinrichs Higgins Hynes Jaap Jennings - Gabarra Jones Keller Keough Kropfelder Kuntner Lalas Lang Lenarduzzi Lilly Looby Maca MacMillan Mausser B. McBride P. McBride McGhee Jo. McGuire McIlvenny McLaughlin McNab Meola Mieth Millar Monsen J. Moore J-M. Moore Moorhouse Morrison Murphy Murray Myernick Nanoski Nelson Nilsen Ntsoelengoe O'Brien Olaff A. Oliver L. Oliver Overbeck Pariani Patenaude Pelé Pérez Pope Preki Ramos Ratican Renzulli Reyna Roe Rote Roth Roy Ryan Salcedo Schaller Scurry Slone B. Smith E. Souza J. Souza Spalding Stark E. Stewart Swords Tintle Tracey Trost Vaughn Vermes Wallace Weir Willey B. Wilson P. Wilson Windischmann Wolanin Wood Wynalda Zerhusen Builders Abronzino Aimi Alonso Anderson Anschutz Ardizzone Arena J. Armstrong Barriskill Berling Best Booth Boxer B. Bradley G. Bradley Briggs Brock A. Brown Cahill Chyzowych Coll G. Collins P. Collins Commander Cordery R. Craddock E. Craggs G. Craggs Cummings Delach DeLuca DiCicco Donaghy Donnelly Dorrance Dresmich Duff Edwards Epperlein A. Ertegun N. Ertegun Fairfield Feibusch Fernley Ferro Fishwick Flamhaft H. Fleming P. Foulds S. Foulds D. Fowler M. Fowler Gansler Garber Garcia Giesler Gould Greer Guelker Guennel Healey Heilpern Hemmings Hermann Howard Hudson Hunt Iglehart Jeffrey Johnston Kabanica Kalloch Kehoe Kelly Kempton Klein Kleinaitis Koszma Kracher Kraft Kraus Lamm Larson Lewis Lombardo Long MacEwan Machnik Magnozzi Maher Manning Marre McClay McGrath Ja. McGuire McSkimming Merovich A. Miller M. Miller Mills Ja. Moore Morrissette Netto Newman Niotis Palmer Pearson Peel Peters Phillipson Piscopo Pomeroy Ramsden Reese Ringsdorf E. Robbie J. Robbie Ross Rottenberg Sagar Saunders Schellscheidt Schillinger Schmid Schroeder Schwarz Shields Single A. Smith P. Smith Spath Steelink Steinbrecher Stern Steuer D. Stewart Stone Toye Triner Walder Washauer Webb Weston Woods Woosnam Yeagley Young Zampini Preceded by Rod Laver BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year 1970 Succeeded by Lee Trevino Brazil squads Brazil squad -- 1958 FIFA World Cup winners ( 1st title ) 1 Castilho 2 Bellini ( c ) 3 Gilmar 4 Djalma Santos 5 Dino Sani 6 Didi 7 Zagallo 8 Oreco 9 Zózimo 10 Pelé 11 Garrincha 12 Nílton Santos 13 Moacir 14 De Sordi 15 Orlando 16 Mauro 17 Joel 18 Mazzola 19 Zito 20 Vavá 21 Dida 22 Pepe Coach : Feola Brazil squad -- 1959 South American Championship ( Argentina ) Runners - up 1 Castilho 2 Gilmar 3 Bellini 4 Coronel 5 Djalma Santos 6 Nílton Santos 7 Orlando 8 Paulinho 9 Chinesinho 10 Didi 11 Dino Sani 12 Dorval 13 Esteves 14 Formiga 15 Zito 16 Almir Pernambuquinho 17 Garrincha 18 Henrique 19 Mauro 20 Paulo Valentim 21 Pelé 22 Zagallo Coach : Feola Brazil squad -- 1962 FIFA World Cup winners ( 2nd title ) 1 Gilmar 2 Djalma Santos 3 Mauro ( c ) 4 Zito 5 Zózimo 6 Nílton Santos 7 Garrincha 8 Didi 9 Coutinho 10 Pelé 11 Pepe 12 Jair Marinho 13 Bellini 14 Jurandir 15 Altair 16 Zequinha 17 Mengálvio 18 Jair 19 Vavá 20 Amarildo 21 Zagallo 22 Castilho Coach : Moreira Brazil squad -- 1964 Taça das Nações Runners - up Aírton Beleza Brito Carlinhos Carlos Alberto Gérson Gilmar Jairzinho Joel Julinho Pelé Rildo Rinaldo Roberto Dias Vavá Zagallo Coach : Feola Brazil squad -- 1966 FIFA World Cup 1 Gilmar 2 Djalma Santos 3 Fidélis 4 Bellini ( c ) 5 Brito 6 Altair 7 Orlando 8 Paulo Henrique 9 Rildo 10 Pelé 11 Gérson 12 Manga 13 Denílson 14 Lima 15 Zito 16 Garrincha 17 Jairzinho 18 Alcindo 19 Silva 20 Tostão 21 Paraná 22 Edu Coach : Feola Brazil squad -- 1970 FIFA World Cup winners ( 3rd title ) 1 Félix 2 Brito 3 Piazza 4 Carlos Alberto ( c ) 5 Clodoaldo 6 Marco Antônio 7 Jairzinho 8 Gérson 9 Tostão 10 Pelé 11 Rivellino 12 Ado 13 Roberto 14 Baldocchi 15 Fontana 16 Everaldo 17 Joel 18 Paulo Cézar Caju 19 Edu 20 Dario 21 Zé Maria 22 Leão Coach : Zagallo New York Cosmos Brooklyn, New York The Club Original club ( 1970 -- 85 ) Modern club ( 2010 -- present ) Historical team Seasons Players ( all - stars ) List of all honors and achievements Stadiums Yankee Stadium Shuart Stadium Downing Stadium Giants Stadium Belson Stadium MCU Park New York Cosmos Stadium ( proposed ) Affiliated clubs New York Cosmos B NPSL Culture Kits Trans - Atlantic Challenge Cup Once in a Lifetime Cosmos Copa Retired numbers 9 10 Key personnel Chairman Rocco B. Commisso Head coach vacant Division 1 major honors ( 12 ) League championships ( 5 ) 1972 1977 1978 1980 1982 League regular seasons ( 7 ) 1972 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 Division 2 major honors ( 3 ) League championships ( 3 ) 2013 2015 2016 League regular seasons ( 3 ) 2013 2015 2016 Seasons ( 19 ) NASL ( 1968 -- 84 ) 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 NASL ( 2011 -- ) 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 BIBSYS : 37271 BNE : XX1064135 BNF : cb11918951c ( data ) GND : 118592505 ISNI : 0000 0001 2026 6189 LCCN : n80145774 LNB : 000055570 MusicBrainz : 736ce674 - b38c - 4c81 - bdee - 4c586a01f9cc NDL : 00451005 NKC : jo20000080752 ICCU : IT ICCU LO1V 023801 SELIBR : 195819 SUDOC : 027659593 VIAF : 59087501 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title= Pelé&oldid = 854609825 '' Categories : Pelé 1940 births Living people African - Brazilian sportspeople 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1970 FIFA World Cup players Association football forwards Brazil international footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriates in the United States Brazilian footballers Brazilian non-fiction writers Afro - Brazilian people Brazilian Roman Catholics Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Expatriate soccer players in the United States FIFA 100 FIFA World Cup - winning players Football players and officials awarded knighthoods Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Laureus World Sports Awards winners National Soccer Hall of Fame members New York Cosmos players North American Soccer League ( 1968 -- 84 ) players Sportspeople from Minas Gerais Santos Futebol Clube players South American Footballer of the Year winners Hidden categories : CS1 Spanish - language sources ( es ) CS1 Portuguese - language sources ( pt ) CS1 Italian - language sources ( it ) CS1 French - language sources ( fr ) Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism Articles with short description Good articles Use dmy dates from March 2016 Articles with hCards FIFA player ID same as Wikidata Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with LNB identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with SBN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers AC with 14 elements Talk View source Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Afrikaans Akan አማርኛ Aragonés অসমীয়া Asturianu Aymar aru Azərbaycanca تۆرکجه বাংলা Bân - lâm - gú Башҡортса Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Føroyskt Français Gaeilge Galego ગુજરાતી गोंयची कोंकणी / Gõychi Konknni 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Ido Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ქართული Қазақша Kiswahili Кыргызча Лезги Latina Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Lumbaart Magyar Македонски Malagasy മലയാളം मराठी მარგალური مصرى Bahasa Melayu Baso Minangkabau Nederlands नेपाली 日本 語 Нохчийн Norsk Norsk nynorsk ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی Papiamentu Piemontèis Polski Português Qaraqalpaqsha Română Runa Simi Русский Саха тыла संस्कृतम् Sardu Scots Shqip Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina کوردی Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் Татарча / tatarça తెలుగు ไทย Тоҷикӣ Türkçe Türkmençe Тыва дыл Українська Tiếng Việt Volapük West - Vlams Winaray 吴语 Yorùbá 粵語 中文 102 more Edit links This page was last edited on 12 August 2018, at 15 : 51 ( UTC ). 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Question: when did pele win his last world cup
Answer: 1970