Last Updated on January 2, 2023 by
Soccer is rarely just soccer, and soccer players are rarely just soccer players. Pelé was a brilliant striker, a player of grace and imagination, with explosive pace and extraordinary poise, but that is not why his death on Thursday caused such a widespread sense of loss. Nor are the three World Cups or the two Copa Libertadores he won. To answer the question of why Pelé was important with a list of attributes or medals is to miss the point: he mattered because of what he represented.
But defining what he represented is almost impossible, not least because, especially when his playing career was over, his ability to represent almost anything made him an advertiser’s dream. He existed in a perfectly commercial space, a person of stature and charisma who was somehow also a blank canvas capable of promoting almost anything, from Puma to Pepsi, Viagra to diamonds made by heating his own hair under extreme pressure.
That quality means that Pelé meant almost anything anyone needed him to mean. For my generation, a little too young to have seen him play, he was always the benchmark, the name that defined footballing greatness. “Pelé” was the player your grandmother who never watched football had heard of, the inevitable hero of Escape to Victory, the name that would be shouted across the schoolyard if someone did something particularly brilliant.
And of course the name itself is hugely significant in that regard. Would we have been so eager to shout his name if he had remained Edson? “Pelé” is memorable. It may be a corruption of “Bilé”, a goalkeeper whom Pelé idolized as a child (his own name is said to derive from an incantation used by the wise women of his village when they gathered around his crib in the moonlight and tried to pull him from muteness), but it’s perfect branding. Pelé sounds like a more exotic form of “play”. It begins with a burst of energy before quickly moving into something more supple and seductive.
Perhaps it is too much to say that with his death also went a lingering fragment of childhood innocence, but the passing of such a constant, of the first global football superstar, of the earliest of what, after Qatar, it seems appropriate to think as the Great Trinity, is a milestone for mortality.
But you didn’t have to be born when his career was winding down with the New York Cosmos to see Pelé as a representative of something purer. He was perhaps at his best in the two-legged final of the 1963 Libertadores, when he overcame brutal tackling to inspire Santos’ 5-3 aggregate victory over Boca Juniors. But his most memorable performances, the displays that confirmed him in the world’s affections, came in the 1970 World Cup, a tournament that itself occupies a mythic zone in football’s collective memory.
The Pelé legend needed that tournament. In 1958, he had been a 17-year-old who entered the team in the third group match and scored six goals in the rest of the World Cup, including two in the final. He was youth, he was joy, he was a wonderful promise, but Didi and Vavá were the stars. In 1962, he was injured out of the tournament in the second game. He may have helped win two World Cups, but it hadn’t been his World Cup either.
In 1966, the footage of him being led off the Goodison Park pitch, an overcoat draped over his shoulders, battered and beaten, kicked out of the World Cup by first Bulgaria and then Portugal, symbolized the turn football had taken. After the individualism that had characterized Brazil’s successes in 1958 and 1962 (underpinned by the radical innovations of zone marking and a back-four, such as it was), England’s victory was rooted in physicality and systemisation. The age of pressing had begun.
Mexico in 1970 stood against it. It was the first WC broadcast via satellite and in colour. There was a magic to the yellow shirts and cobalt shorts that glistened in the Mexican heat. Everything felt excitingly modern: the ball, the Telstar, was named after the satellite, its black and white panels still standard for generic representations of a football.
Brazil had prepared by completing a Nasa training course. But tactically, Mexico was a setback. The heat and altitude meant that the constant running required in pressing had to be dampened. Individualism, a team in reality consisting of five No. 10s, the biggest of them the one actually wearing 10, for the last time, could thrive. 1970 was Pelé’s tournament.
The feeling of innocence was not only tactical. By 1974, João Havelange had succeeded Stanley Rous as president of Fifa, and football was entering its commercial era. There was a naivety about 1970, when little was smooth and not everything was for sale, which would come to seem more and more attractive.
But it was a strange kind of innocence. The Observer’s Hugh McIlvanney wrote of Brazil’s late performance against Italy in the 1970 final as representing “a distillation of their football, its beauty and elan and almost undiluted joy … It was not hard to believe that they were eager to say something about the game as well as themselves.”
Yet here was a Brazilian side that, although it had no real fault in itself, came to be used for propaganda purposes by the dictatorship of General Emílio Médici. “Mexico 1970” has become shorthand for the ideal of soccer, yet Mexico in 1970 was run by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, which practiced torture and extrajudicial killing as a matter of course, and carried out massacres of student protesters in 1968 and 1971. dark background loomed large seen ignored; there was an innocence even in the cover.
And at the heart of these contradictions stood Pelé, the greatest player from perhaps the greatest World Cup, an emblem of something wholesome yet otherworldly, a powerful brand that would in effect become a walking billboard itself, for both products and, less willingly, for a dictatorship.
The real Pele? As his 1970 teammate Tostão observed, the real Pelé was the public Pelé, the private Edson long since refined out of existence. He was many things to many people, but perhaps most of all, Pelé represents lost innocence.
Contents
Who is the king of FIFA World Cup?
In total, Pelé played 114 matches with Brazil and scored a record 95 goals, including 77 in official matches. He remains the only footballer to have won three FIFA World Cups.
Who is the King of All Time Football? ‘Football with four letters’: Global media bows down to ‘King’ Pele. His face appeared on televisions around the world and dominated news media websites everywhere as global media bowed to the late, great Pele, the undisputed “king” of football.
Who wins most FIFA World Cup?
With five titles, Brazil is the most successful World Cup team and also the only nation to have participated in every World Cup tournament. Italy and Germany each have four titles.
Has FIFA World Cup won 4 times?
FIFA World Cup winners list – by country. The most successful soccer team to date is Brazil. Argentina has won the FIFA World Cup three times, Italy and Germany have won it four times, and Brazil has won it five times. From its establishment in 1930 until 2022, only eight teams have won the FIFA World Cup.
Which countries have won the FIFA World Cup?
Countries that have won the FIFA World Cup (from 1930 to 2018):
- Brazil. 5-time champions (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
- Germany. 4-time champions (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)
- Italy. 4-time champions (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)
- Uruguay. 2-time champions (1930, 1950)
- Argentina. …
- France. …
- England. …
- Spain.
Which player won 3 World Cup?
Brazil’s Pelé is the only one to have won three times, while another 20 have won twice. No player has won two World Cups both as captain.
How Pele won 3 World Cups?
| Pele | |
|---|---|
| profession | Football player humanitarian |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
How many players have won multiple World Cups?
Of the more than 450 players who have been on a winning team, only 21 players have won two or more World Cups, and one player stands above the rest. Sporting News takes a lot of the most successful players in FIFA World Cup history.
Which player has most World Cup medals?
By the end of his career, Pelé had won three FIFA World Cups with Brazil, the most wins of the World Cup by any player.
In total, 471 players have been on the winning team in the World Cup. Brazil’s Pelé is the only one to have won three times, while another 20 have won twice.
Did Pele score in the 1958 World Cup final?
1958 final against Sweden (5-2 win) â Pele went down in football 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.
Did Pelé score at the 1958 World Cup? Pelé scores Brazil’s third goal during the World Cup final in 1958 against Sweden. Brazil won 5-2 to claim their first ever World Cup.
What did Pelé do in 1958?
WC in 1958 He was at the time the youngest player ever to take part in the WC. Against France in the semi-final, Brazil led 2â1 at half-time and then Pelé scored a hat-trick, becoming the youngest player in World Cup history to do so.
How old was Pelé in 1958 World Cup?
Remembers the Brazilian legend Pele Helten appears and dazzles as a 17-year-old in Sweden in 1958.
Who was the best player in 1958 World Cup?
| World Championship in Soccer Sweden 1958 | |
|---|---|
| Best young player | Pele |
| â 1954 1962 â |
How many goals did Pelé score in World Cup finals?
These goals are worth revisiting, especially. that headline. â The first of Pele’s 12 World Cup goals came in the last eight in 1958 against a strong Wales side led by John Charles.
How many World Cup finals did Pelé play in?
Pelé’s electrifying game and penchant for scoring spectacular goals made him a star around the world. He led Brazil to three FIFA World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970).
How many goals has Pelé scored?
Pele scored 77 goals in 92 international matches for Brazil and 680 goals in official club matches.
How many goals did Pelé score in the 58 World Cup?
Pele was not just a prolific goalscorer, but a prolific scorer of wonder goals. He achieved 12 in total at the FIFA World Cup⢠in Sweden 1958, Chile 1962 and Mexico 1970.
How many goals did Pelé score in 1959?
FIFA adds that Pelé scored more than 100 goals in a season twice, in 1959 (127 goals) and in 1961 (110 goals).
Who scored 6 goals in the 1958 World Cup?
Just Fontaine of France scored 6 of his 13 goals in the tournament, making him the tournament’s top scorer in the quarter-finals. None of the teams in this group had been particularly successful at previous World Cups.
Who won the Golden Boot in 1958?
Just Fontaine of France won the Golden Boot in 1958 and his 13 goals in Sweden remain the most goals scored by a player at a single FIFA World Cup edition. France’s Kylian Mbappe is the reigning Golden Boot holder after scoring eight goals in seven matches at Qatar 2022 – one more than Lionel Messi.
Who won the Golden Boot World Cup? Mbappe scored eight goals, including three against Argentina on Sunday in a thrilling final at the Lusail Stadium.
Who was best player of World Cup 1958?
| World Championship in Soccer Sweden 1958 | |
|---|---|
| Presence | 819,810 (23,423 per match) |
| top scorer(s) | Just Fontaine (13 goals) |
| Best young player | Pele |
| â 1954 1962 â |
Which soccer player won a World Cup winner’s medal at the age of 17 in 1958?
At the age of 17, Pelé also became the youngest player to participate in, score and win a World Cup final.
Who won the 1958 World Cup score?
With a newfound tactical organization and two supreme attacking talents in Pele and Garrincha, Brazil beat Sweden 5-2 in the final at Rasunda Stadium to become the first team to capture the trophy on another continent.
How old was Pelé in the 1958 World Cup?
AP Brazil’s 17-year-old Pele cries on the shoulder of goalkeeper Gylmar Dos Santos Neves after Brazil’s 5-2 victory over Sweden in the final of the soccer World Cup in Stockholm, Sweden, June 29, 1958. At first, he only appears in photographs.
How old was Pele when he made his World Cup debut?
The world first caught a glimpse of Pelé’s dazzling skills in 1958 when he made his World Cup debut at 17. He scored Brazil’s only goal in the country’s quarter-final win against Wales, then scored a hat-trick in the semi-final against France and two in the final against hosts Sweden.
What did Pele do in 1958?
WC in 1958 He was at the time the youngest player ever to take part in the WC. Against France in the semi-final, Brazil led 2â1 at half-time and then Pelé scored a hat-trick, becoming the youngest player in World Cup history to do so.
Who is the god of soccer?
The game of football has been graced by some of the most unmatched talents over the years, but very few of them could be named in the battle for the mantle of the god of football. So who is the god of football? The answer would be the Argentinian footballer, Diego Maradona.
Who is the God of skills in football? Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is considered the king of dribbling skills in soccer. Messi has won the Ballon d’Or for being the best footballer in the world over a calendar year seven times during his career, which is the most in the history of world football.
Who is the football God in the world?
Pele, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is one of the greatest soccer players of all time and was voted “the greatest” by FIFA, also known as the god of soccer in the world. He was an absolute machine when it came to scoring a goal.
Who is the king of world football?
“Pele: immortal” forever with us, FIFA said on its website about the legend named by world football’s governing body as the greatest player of the 20th century. “They called him ‘The King’ and his face is one of the most recognizable in world football,” FIFA said.
Who is No 1 Messi or Ronaldo?
Who has scored the most goals between Messi and Ronaldo? Ronaldo has scored 804 goals in 1106 matches, while Messi has scored 759 goals in 957 matches. Ronaldo has played 149 more games than Messi in his entire career.
Who is the Greek God of soccer?
Zeus â Cristiano Ronaldo Zeus is after all the king of the Greek pantheon as he sits on the throne of heaven.
Who is the god of soccer?
Maradona, the god of football Maradona, who scored 352 goals for club and country, is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time. When Argentina won the FIFA World Cup in 1986, Maradona led the team with decisive goals, including a quarter-final clash against England.
Who is the best Greece soccer player?
| # | Name | Career |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giorgos Karagounis* | 1999-2014 |
| 2 | Theodoros Zagorakis* | 1994-2007 |
| 3 | Kostas Katsouranis* | 2003-2015 |
| 4 | Vasilis Torosidis | 2007â2019 |
Who is the god of football 2022?
Messi endured significant heartbreak with Argentina early in his international career with four unsuccessful Copa America campaigns, three of which saw them lose in the final. But he finally got his hands on the Copa in 2021 before winning the 2022 Finalissima and then the 2022 World Cup.
Who is No 1 Messi or Ronaldo?
Who has scored the most goals between Messi and Ronaldo? Ronaldo has scored 804 goals in 1106 matches, while Messi has scored 759 goals in 957 matches. Ronaldo has played 149 more games than Messi in his entire career.
Who is the 2022 football king?
Who is the king of football now 2022? Lionel Messi is the holder of the title ‘King of Football.
Did Pele won 3 World Cups?
Brazilian soccer superstar Pele won three World Cups before ending his career with the New York Cosmos. Pele’s World Cup story is the classic drama in three acts. The hero appears and dazzles as a 17-year-old in Sweden in 1958.
How many times did Pele win World Best? Pelé won a total of 10 trophies during his senior international career, but only three major titles. He won the biggest prize of all in football, the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and remains the only player to have won the men’s edition three times.
How many World Cups Pele?
Pelé, the Brazilian soccer legend who won three World Cups and became the sport’s first global icon, has died aged 82.
Who played most FIFA World Cup?
Lionel Messi is the player who has played the most matches at the FIFA World Cup and one of only six, along with German Lothar Matthäus, Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and Mexicans Antonio Carbajal, Andrés Guardado and Rafael Márquez, to have appeared on the field in five different tournaments.
How many World Cups did Pele have?
Brazilian soccer superstar Pele won three World Cups before ending his career with the New York Cosmos. Pele’s World Cup story is the classic drama in three acts.
Who won 3 World Cups?
Brazil’s Pelé is the only one to have won three times, while another 20 have won twice. No player has won two World Cups both as captain.
Has any team won 3 World Cups?
Italy and Germany each have four titles. The current champion Argentina has three titles. France and Uruguay each have two titles, while England and Spain have one each. The team that wins the final receives the FIFA World Cup Trophy; its name is engraved on the base of the trophy.
Who is the only player to win 3 World Cups?
Pele, whose first name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, scored a world record 1,281 goals and is the only player ever to win the World Cup three times.
Who is the king of world football?
PELE IN THE SOCCER WORLD CUP Pele remains the only player to have won the World Cup three times. He won the coveted trophy in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and scored 12 World Cup goals.
Who is No 1 Messi or Ronaldo?
Who has scored the most goals between Messi and Ronaldo? Ronaldo has scored 804 goals in 1106 matches, while Messi has scored 759 goals in 957 matches. Ronaldo has played 149 more games than Messi in his entire career.
Who is the No 1 player in football history?
1 soccer player – Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi made his mark for Barcelona as a teenage sensation and quickly became one of football’s brightest stars. He scored his first professional goal against Albacete in 2005.