5 TOP WORLD CUP GOALS
FACTFILE
Full name: Edson Arantes do Nascimento
Date of birth: October 21, 1940 Place of birth: Tres Coracoes, Brazil
CLUB CAREER 1956-1974 Santos 1975-1977 New York Cosmos CLUB HONOURS
Intercontinental Cup winner (1962, 1963) Copa Libertadores winner (1962, 1963) Sao Paulo state champion (1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973) Sao Paulo state top scorer 11 times: 1957 (17 goals), 1958 (58), 1959 (45), 1960 (33), 1961 (47), 1962 (37), 1963 (22), 1964 (34), 1965 (49), 1969 (26), 1973 (11) Brazilian Cup winner (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968) North American Soccer League (1977)
INTERNATIONAL CAREER
92 caps for Brazil, 77 goals First cap - 7/7/1957, Brazil 1 Argentina 2 Last cap - 18/7/1971, Brazil 2 Yugoslavia 2
INTERNATIONAL HONOURS
World Cup winner (1958, 1962, 1970) Copa America finalist (1959)
DISTINCTIONS
■ Named athlete of the century by the International Olympic Committee (1999)
■ Fifa Player of the Century (2000)
■ Honorary Ballon d’Or winner (2014)
SELECTED RECORDS
■ Only player to win three World Cups
■ Youngest goalscorer in a World Cup final and youngest World Cup winner (age 17 in 1958)
■ 1,281 career goals in 1,363 matches (according to Fifa)
■ Brazil’s all-time leading scorer (77 goals)
■ 127 goals in a calendar year (1959)
■ Eight goals in one game (Santos 11 Botafogo 0, November 1964)
FAMILY
■ Married twice Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi (1966-1982) and Assira Lemos Seixas (1994 present)
■ Three sons, three daughters
1958 quarter-final v Wales (1-0 win)
June 19 at Gothenburg, Sweden The first of Pele’s 12 World Cup goals came in the 1958 last eight against a strong Wales side led by John Charles. The then-17-year-old had become the youngest player ever in the tournament in Brazil’s final group game against the USSR.
1958 semi-final v France(5-2 win)
June 24 at Stockholm Pele did not waste much time in adding to his World Cup tally, decisively turning a close semi-final against France in Brazil’s favour. Leading 2-1 at half-time against Just Fontaine’s Les Bleus, Pele plundered a second-half hat-trick to power Brazil into the final.
1958 final v Sweden (5-2 win)
June 29 at Stockholm Pele wrote himself into footballing folklore by becoming the first teenager to score in a World Cup final, a feat only matched 60 years later by France’s Kylian Mbappe. His first goal of a double in the 5-2 triumph over hosts Sweden was unforgettable.
1970 group stage v Romania (3-2 win)
June 10 at Guadalajara, Mexico Having injured himself during the second game of Brazil’s 1962 World Cup win and then effectively being kicked out of the 1966 edition in England, Pele arrived in Mexico with plenty to prove in 1970.
1970 final v Italy (4-1 win)
June 21, at Mexico City After a tournament for which he will best be remembered for two misses - a shot wide after an incredible dummy to confound a goalkeeper and an effort from the halfway line which drifted narrowly off target - Pele scored his last World Cup goal in the final.