A few years ago, the football world mourned the passing of Johan Cruyff. Later came news of Diego Maradona. Then, the scale of loss grew even deeper with the passing of the king of football, the Brazilian legend Pelé, who left the stage at 82 years old.
How did the legend go?
Pelé battled cancer for several years. While many fights against illness end in victory, especially with older players, this one proved stubborn. The famed forward, aged 80, underwent a successful rectal tumor surgery, yet the disease persisted. After surgery, there were ongoing hospitalizations and cycles of chemotherapy in many cases.
Just before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, troubling updates emerged about Pelé’s health. In late November, he was admitted with generalized swelling, diagnosed with heart failure, and later contracted a respiratory infection. Through it all, the football icon stayed aware of the world’s attention and expressed gratitude to supporters via social media.
After Brazil’s 1/8 final clash, teammates paid tribute with a poster featuring Pelé. Despite his grave illness, he remained emotionally connected to Selesão’s performance in Qatar. It was heartbreaking to hear reports of his body failing to respond to chemotherapy and of a shift toward palliative care, though those rumors were not uniformly confirmed by his daughters or by official channels.
Despite the rumors, Pelé’s public statements suggested a desire to reassure fans. He continued to support Neymar, who, after more than five decades, matched Pelé’s record by scoring 77 goals for the national team.
Main milestones in Pelé’s career
Was the future king of football once a delicate boy who began playing in the Tres Coracoes youth team in Minas Gerais in 1947? The trail points to yes. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, son of footballer João Ramos do Nascimento, chased his father’s path, inspired by a pivotal early mentor, Valdemar de Brito, a former Brazilian national team player who became his first coach. Brito’s influence is remembered as the earliest professional guidance Pelé received.
Brito predicted Pelé would become the world’s greatest. He arranged a youth screening in Santos, which Pelé passed in June 1956, and three months later he debuted for the senior side at under 16. In March 1957, Pelé earned his first call-up to the Brazilian national team, and a year later, at 18, he traveled to the World Cup in Sweden.
Pelé’s World Cup debut came in the group-stage match against the USSR, a 2-0 loss for Brazil. The quarterfinals saw him score the decisive goal against Wales, and in the semifinals Brazil overwhelmed France 5-2, with Pelé contributing a historic hat-trick. The final against Sweden ended in a 5-2 victory for Brazil, grounding Pelé’s status as a world champion at a very young age. This triumph marked Brazil’s first World Cup title on European soil.
Pelé would lift the World Cup two more times, securing titles in Chile (1962) and Mexico (1970). He remains the only player to win three World Cups as a player. Across his national-team career, he played 92 matches and scored 77 goals, with the final tally in 1971. In 2022, Neymar would echo Pelé’s international goal record, underscoring the enduring legacy of the Brazilian goal-scoring maestro.
Pelé’s club career echoed the brilliance of his national success. He spent the bulk of his professional life with Santos, followed briefly by a stint in the United States with the New York Cosmos. With Santos, he captured six Brazilian championships, five national cups, 10 Paulista League titles, twice lifted the Libertadores Cup and twice the Intercontinental Cup. Atlético-level honors also included the Intercontinental Champions Super Cup, contested only in 1968 and 1969.
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After retirement, Pelé’s list of honors continued to grow. The International Federation (FIFA) named him the best football player of the 20th century, and in 2014 he received the honorary FIFA World Cup Golden Ball. The International Olympic Committee recognized him as the greatest athlete of the 20th century, a distinction framed by his Olympic absence. In 1998 he was knighted as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, a rare honor for a footballer.
The origin of the nickname
There are several explanations for why Edson Arantes do Nascimento became known worldwide as Pelé. The player himself recalled that a classmate coined the nickname, a term he initially found jarring because it carried no direct meaning in Portuguese. Yet its simplicity and phonetic ease made it perfectly suited for global audiences, and Pelé grew into it with evident pride.
A second theory points to a friend’s habit of naming companions after a hero from Vasco da Gama, Bile; some suggest the name evokes the Hebrew word for miracle. Another tale claims Pelé once carried a less flattering nickname that never stuck to his legend. Over time, the nickname Pelé became a symbol of football excellence recognized around the world.