Pelé's amazing football legacy in numbers

December 29, 2022 will forever be a black day in football history. Brazilian football legend Pelé, the King, passed away at the age of 82.

Pelé is considered by many the most outstanding player in history. He revolutionized the sport with his technique, strategy, and vision. The Brazilian footballer was a symbol of admiration for his fans and a nightmare for his rivals.

During his 21-year career, from 1956 to 1977, he took football in Brazil to new levels while breaking hundreds of records. Some regard him as football's first superstar.

Some have broken his records, but many still remain to this day. Here's proof in black and white about what made Pelé such a football legend.

First of all, Pelé is the only player to have won the World Cup three times as a player: in 1958, 1962, and 1970.

Injured before the beginning of the tournament, 17-year-old Pelé made his debut during a match against the USSR. At the time, he was the youngest player to participate in the World Cup.

The Brazilian footballer scored one goal in the quarter-finals, three in the semi-finals against France, and an unforgettable goal in the final against the host country Sweden. These were his first steps into a long, legendary career.

The 1962 Chile World Cup was a blow for Pelé fans, even to this day. The Brazilian football king did participate in the tournament, but he was injured in the second match, against Czechoslovakia.

Despite this, Brazilian manages to get to the finals and Pelé gets his second World Cup at age 21.

Brazil and Pelé return to the international tournament in Mexico in 1970. It's the first World Cup broadcast in color and the Brazilian football shines with five goals, including a decisive one against Italy in the finals.

After the match, Italian defender Tarcisio Burgnich stated: “Before the match, I said to myself: He is made flesh and blood, like me. Then realized that I was wrong”.

There's still mystery and controversy surrounding how many goals Pelé did throughout his career. The Brazilian footballer claimed he scored 1283 goals.

Officially, though, Pelé made between 757 and 767 goals throughout his career. This is still a very respectable tally that makes him the fifth-best recorder goalscorer so far.

Pelé holds the distinction of being the youngest player to score at the World Cup, so far, being 17 years and 239 days when he kicked his first goal against Wales in Sweden 1958.

Pelé was in his prime in 1960. The then 19-year-old footballer gets a hefty salary from Santos, his football club in Brazil. The club owners, wanting to get the most profit from his investment, made him play that year alone 116 matches, or one game every three days.

National football championships didn't exist in Brazil in the 1960s and 1970s, so regional championships were in the higher echelons of the sports and the Campeonato Paulista was seen as the very best of Brazilian football. Between 1956 and 1974, Pelé was the league's top scorer 11 times while playing for Santos FC.

During this era, national team matches were much rarer than today. However, Pelé still managed to wear the green and the yellow in the field 92 times between 1957 and 1971!

One of Pelé's most memorable feats with Santos was on November 21, 1964, when the team faced Botafogo and Pelé scored eight of the eleven goals the team scored for an 11-0 victory.

Not many people know that Pelé played for the New York Cosmos between 1975 and 1977. There, he played 56 matches, in which he scored 37 goals. Good numbers for a 35-year-old footballer!

Just to show how big and international the Pelé phenomenon was, during his time at the New York Cosmos, players from other teams would approach and ask him for his jersey after the matches. Cosmos management had 25 to 30 jerseys available for each match!

Pelé also scored Brazil's 100th goal at the World Cup, during the final against Italy, in 1970.