Pelé wasn't destined to be great. Born in poverty in Bauru, the young Edson Arantes do Nascimento learnt to play football with a grapefruit or a sock filled with newspapers.
But destiny meant nothing to Pelé, who developed his game playing futsal and would grow into one of the most influential players and people in football history. After all, it was Pelé who named and made it the 'Beautiful Game'.
To celebrate Pelé's birthday - he would've turned 86 on October 23rd, 2026 - we take a look at the most iconic moments from one of the most iconic moments of Pelé's storied career.
10: The farewell match that made the sky cry
After an extraordinary 21-year career, Pelé played his final game on October 1st, 1977. In an exhibition game between Santos and the New York Cosmos, 'O Rei' represented both clubs and, of course, scored a 30-yard free-kick to mark the end of a truly legendary career. The game, played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, drew greats such as Sir Bobby Moore and Muhammad Ali, who embraced Pelé and yelled, "Don't forget; we're the greatest in the whole world!"
75,646 attended Pelé's final game, which was rained out. Brazilian newspapers knew why: "Even the sky was crying," they wrote the next day.
Pelé took a different approach in his pre-game speech: "I want to take this opportunity to ask you, in this moment when the world looks to me, to please take more attention to the young ones, to the kids all over the world. We need them too much… I want to ask you, because I believe love is the most important thing we can take from life, because everything else passes, to say with me three times: Love! Love! Love!"
9: Signing for New York Cosmos
Pelé was a trailblazer in many ways. He confirmed this once again when he closed the door on a 19-year Santos career and, following a short-lived retirement, signed for the New York Cosmos in 1975, thus becoming the first world-famous name to join the slowly dying North American Soccer League, which gave out match tickets via Burger King vouchers to attract attendees.
Then, suddenly, they had to turn away 50,000 fans when the Cosmos played at home at Downing Stadium, and the team moved to the 76,891-capacity Giants Stadium, where they fielded teams with more global superstars, including Carlos Alberto, Johan Neeskens, and Giorgio Chinaglia. Suddenly, the NASL was thriving. And it all started with Pelé.
8: The Intercontinental Cup-clinching hat-trick
There simply isn't enough time in a day to cover all of Pelé's accolades, but we have to talk about the 1962 Intercontinental Cup. Pelé's Santos faced off with European champions Benfica, whose legendary coach Bela Gutmann left just months earlier. After Santos won 3-2 in Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon's Estadio da Luz hosted the second leg, Benfica's fortress, where no one had won in 1961/62.
But then came Pelé. Just days shy of his 22nd birthday, the Brazilian magician delivered one of football's greatest performances. He fired home a rocket cross from Pepe, dummied past one defender and ditched two more to score a second, set up the 3-0 by skipping past four opponents and setting up Coutinho from the touchline, and completed his hat-trick by nutmegging Eusebio at the halfway line and embarking on an adventure past three defenders before tapping in his own rebound.
Santos won 5-2, and Benfica goalkeeper Couto Pereira did not believe what he saw: "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."
7: Pelé, the official national treasure
Pelé became a national icon in no time. He started scoring the moment he graced the pitch for Santos, and to keep him from exploring and playing in Europe, the Brazilian president found a clever way to keep him around.
Real Madrid, Milan, and Inter were all after him after Brazil's famous 1958 World Cup win, so what did President Janio Quadros do? In 1962, he declared Pelé a national treasure, or patrimônio nacional. It made it impossible for Pelé to move abroad, being a non-exportable national asset.
6: 'People always talk about the one I didn't score'
In 1970, Brazil and Pelé were looking to end the legend's national team career on a high note. That also meant getting past the mighty England, where Sir Bobby Moore commanded a magnificent defence, and Gordon Banks guarded the goal. And it was Banks who, alongside Pelé, wrote headlines in the group stages.
Ten minutes into the game, Pelé rose above the rest and steered a header straight into Banks' right-hand corner, but the England stopper made a truly miraculous save to keep the game goalless. Pelé had already ran off in jubilation, yelling "goal!" but being held back when he spotted Moore celebrating.
It was a moment Pelé never forgot: "I have scored more than a thousand goals in my life and the thing people always talk to me about is the one I didn't score."
5: Pelé's 'Gol de Placa'
How good do you have to be to coin a term for the most football-crazy nation on earth? As good as Pelé, apparently, because his goal against Fluminense was so good that it became an example to all beautiful goals, a 'Gol de Placa', a goal worthy of a plaque.
In the 40th minute, Pelé took the ball on his own half at the iconic Estadio Maracana. 'O Rei' took off, beat Pinheiro, Clovis, Altair, and Jair Marinho, before putting the final stroke on his masterpiece by surgically placing the ball in Castilho's top corner. Fluminense fans were no fans of Santos by any means, but Pelé's goal warranted a two-minute standing ovation, with some fans even calling for the call to count for two.
Journalist Joelmir Beting described the legendary goal, of which the recorded footage was lost, as follows: "In a tortuous and agonising run, which lasted more than a minute and a half with possession of the ball, he finally unleashed a nutmeg on goalkeeper Castilho and scored the goal. The 130,000 who were booing began to applaud."
4: 'O Milésimo'
November 19th, 1969, at 23.23 local time in Rio de Janeiro. Thousands had gathered for what seemed like the inevitable: 'O Milésimo', Pelé's 1,000th professional goal. Vasco da Gama were the opponents in the Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, and 34 minutes into the second half, his time was there.
Pelé was fouled in Vasco's box and earned the penalty that would write history. The 29-year-old stepped up and buried it in the left-hand corner of Edgardo Andrada, securing his illustrious 1,000th goal. Photographers swarmed the Maracana's pitch and caught Pelé, who revealed a shirt with the number 1,000 on it.
3: The Goal of the Century
The 1970 Brazil team is often considered the best in football history. It was stacked with talent, with the likes of Pelé, Jairzinho, Rivellino, Tostão, and the team’s leader, Carlos Alberto.
Pelé took centre stage at his last-ever FIFA World Cup in Mexico, and in the final against Italy, he concluded his World Cup career in style. 'O Rei' was at the heart of the greatest team goal in football history, which started with Tostão, Brito, Wilson Piazza, Clodoaldo, Gérson, and Rivellino. Pelé got the ball on the edge of the box and blindly laid it off to the storming Carlos Alberto, who thwacked it into the bottom corner.
A goal for the ages from a team for the ages.
2: The swan song at the 1970 World Cup
No matter how you experience the sport, Pelé is one of the biggest names it's ever known. After shocking the world in 1958 at age 17, the Brazilian phenom took to the global stage one last time at the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.
As part of what's considered the greatest football team of all time, Pelé played a stellar tournament. Despite that save from Gordon Banks being talked about a lot, Pelé's tournament with Brazil was one for the ages. O Rei was involved in 10 of Brazil's 19 goals at the tournament and took centre stage in the final against Italy with a goal and two assists in the dominant 4-1 win over Italy.
Pelé said goodbye to international in the only language he knew: with dancing feet that left the defenders lost in clear daylight. Inter great and Italy defender Tarcisio Burgnich, who was tasked with the thankless job of marking Pelé in the final, perhaps perfectly encapsulated Pelé's final World Cup: "I told myself before the game, he's made of skin and bones just like everyone else. But I was wrong."
1: The sombrero flick goal in the 1958 World Cup final
The world did not know Pelé yet when he took Brazil by the hand at the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but he sure made everyone remember the name afterwards. At just 17 years old, Pelé scored 6 goals as Brazil won their maiden world championship by beating hosts Sweden, who boasted Gunnar Gren and Gunnar Nordahl, two of the three players that made the famous Gre-No-Li trio.
After scoring a hat-trick against Just Fontaine's France in the semifinal, Pelé's finest moment came, of course, in the final in Stockholm. In the 55th minute, up 2-1, Pelé received a cross and chest-touched it high up in the air, fending off Sigge Parling, before lifting the ball over Bengt Gustavson in a spur-of-the-moment action that saw Gustavson plant his studs in Pelé's hip.
Instead of going down, Pelé took the ball on the volley after watching it drop three metres to bury it in the bottom corner and giving his side a two-goal lead over the Swedes. It's still one of the most iconic goals in FIFA World Cup history, and he scored it at the age of 17.
FAQ
1. How many official goals did Pelé score in his career?
Pelé's grand total stands at 1,301 goals in 1,390 games, according to the RSSSF. In 840 official games, Pelé scored 775 goals.
2. Which World Cups did Pelé win with Brazil?
Pelé won the FIFA World Cup in 1958, 1962, and 1970, making him the only player to win three World Cups.
3. Did Pelé ever play for a European club side?
No, Pelé only played for Santos in Brazil and the New York Cosmos in the USA.
4. When did Pelé score his 1,000th goal?
Pelé scored his 1,000th goal on November 19th, 1969, against Vasco da Gama.
5. Why is Pelé called "O Rei" (The King)?
Pelé was called 'O Rei' after the the 1958 FIFA World Cup, where Brazil became world champions for the first time. Pelé was arguably Brazil's best player at the tournament, scoring six goals at the age of 17.