Top 10 Incredible Pele Facts

Former Brazilian professional footballer Edson Arantes do Nascimento, best known by his stage name Pele, was a forward. On TIME’s list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century, he appeared.

He is considered one of the all-time great players and is given the FIFA title of “the greatest.” Pele was one of the most prominent and well-liked sports stars.

He has made several significant contributions to soccer throughout his professional career. He is a celebrated athlete across the world for having played in more games and scored more goals in his career than any other soccer player in history.

Here are Pele’s top ten fascinating facts.

1. Pele’s Dad Played Football

Pele was born in Três Coraçes, Minas Gerais, Brazil, on October 23, 1940. His mother, Celeste Arantes, and football player Joo Ramos do Nascimento (Dondinho) were his parents. His younger siblings included two

Pele’s father participated in center forward positions for Fluminense, Atlético Mineiro, and a number of other minor soccer organizations. Dondinho was Pele’s mentor and trainer in addition to being his father.

2. He was born into poverty.

When his family couldn’t afford to purchase him a real soccer ball when he was a child because of their financial situation, Pelé trained his dribbling talents with a sock filled with rags.

The family relocated to Bauru in the state of So Paulo while he was still a little child. He worked as a servant in tea shops, polished shoes, and sold roasted peanuts outside movie theaters to supplement his income.

He regularly played barefoot since he couldn’t afford shoes, and he and his buddies ultimately created a group known as the Shoeless Ones. Pelé is said to have been the inspiration for the word “pelada,” which was later given to barefoot activities performed on empty lots.

3. He Has Experience With Indoor Football

Pele began playing futsal, a kind of indoor football, in his mid-teens. The game is based on association football and is mostly played inside on a hard court that is smaller than a football field.

When Pelé started playing indoor football in Bauru, it had just recently gained popularity. He participated in the region’s inaugural futsal match and was a member of the Radium team. The inaugural title was won by Pelé and his squad, along with numerous others.

Everyone had to think more quickly since the ball on the ground moved much more quickly than a football on grass and because players were so close to one another. Pelé attributes his superior decision-making skills and ability to be a great football player to futsal.

4. Pele Notches Over One Hundred Hat Tricks

A hat trick refers to a player scoring three goals or more in a single game. 129 hat tricks were achieved by Pele throughout his career.

Throughout his career, Pele scored several goals; he was never satisfied with just one. He scored eight goals in one game, had 31 games with four goals or more, six games with five goals, and 92 games with three goals.

Three goals in a single game are a great feat, and this guy accomplished it 129 times.

5. He has held a Guinness World Record.

Pele has two global records: the most goals scored in a career and the most medals won in the World Cup. He continues to be the player with the youngest goal in a World Cup final.

The fact that he is the youngest player to ever win two World Cups is even more astounding. The youngest player to participate in a World Cup final game was Pelé in 1958. Aged 17 years, 249 days, he was. He scored twice in the game. At the age of 21, he won his second World Cup in 1962.

He now owns the Guinness World Record for the most goals scored by a single person. Between September 7, 1956, and October 1, 1977, Pele played 1,363 games and scored 1,279 goals.

6. His first contract was for $10 per month.

In 1956, when he was barely 15 years old and earning just $10 per month, Pelé signed his first deal with Santos. Even though their community at the time didn’t have gas piping into houses, Pele used his money to purchase his mother a gas stove.

Later on, in 1975, he agreed to a three-year, $7 million deal with the New York Cosmos, becoming the highest-paid team athlete in the world at the time.

To stop him from being transported outside of Brazil by foreign soccer teams, the Brazilian government proclaimed him a national treasure in 1961.

7. Pele is a Brazilian national treasure.

Following Brazil’s first World Cup victory under Pelé’s captaincy in 1958, European teams like Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan, and Manchester United started pursuing the young sensation.

Pelé was designated a national treasure by Brazilian President Jânio Quadros in 1961 to prevent him from being moved to foreign clubs.

The good news is that he was content to play for his club, Santos, and had no ambition to represent another nation. In his native Brazil, Pele is revered as a national hero and a god. He is highly renowned for his efforts in soccer and throughout the years has encouraged tens of thousands, if not millions, of kids to join the game.

8. Pele was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1997, Pele received an honorary knighthood. He is not permitted to address himself as “Sir” until he acquires British citizenship. He was not qualified to obtain a real knighthood since he was a citizen of Brazil.

The honorary knighthood would turn into a real knighthood if he decided to become a British citizen.

9. In his last professional game, he played both sides of a match between his two teams.

At an exhibition game between the New York Cosmos and Santos F.C. in October 1977, Giants Stadium in New Jersey hosted Pelé’s last professional match.

He scored one goal while playing for Santos in the first half of the match before changing into a Cosmos shirt for the second. The final result of the game was 2-1 in favor of the Cosmos.

10. A Pele Day is observed.

On November 19, 1969, Pelé notched goal number 1000. In Santos, November 19 is simply referred to as “Pelé Day.”

In 2018, a statue of Pele was unveiled in Rio de Janeiro. In his honor, there is also a museum.

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