Pele's records

During his 21-year career from 1956 to 1977, Pele - the legend who passed away on December 29 - set countless records, many of which still stand, despite many new generations of superstars emerging.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento - better known to the world as Pele and nicknamed "The King" - is one of the greatest icons of world football.

Pele attended the countdown event one year before the 2018 World Cup in Moscow, Russia in June 2017.

Pele began his career at the age of 15 at Brazilian club Santos and quickly captivated fans around the world with his speed, agility, dribbling ability, high accuracy and sharp finishing.

In 1961, when Pele was just 21, the government of Brazilian President Janio Quadros declared the striker an "official national treasure" to prevent European clubs from recruiting him. Then there was the famous incident in 1969 when the two sides in the Nigerian civil war agreed to a 48-hour truce just to watch Pele play, while he was on tour with Santos in Nigeria. These events show how highly regarded the King of Football was from the start of his career. Here are the records he set in his 21 years of playing football.

The only player to win the World Cup three times

Pele won the world's number one tournament at the national team level three times, twice consecutively in 1958, 1962 and the last time in 1970. Of which, 1958 was the first World Cup championship of Brazil - the most successful country with five Gold Cup wins.

This is one of Pele's many Guinness World Records. In total, 21 players - including Pele - have won the World Cup more than once. Of these, 16 are Brazilians, four are Italians and one is Argentinian.

A series of other records at the World Cup

Pele made his debut at the 1958 World Cup at the age of 17 years and 234 days. He immediately made his mark when he assisted Vava in a 2-0 win over the Soviet Union, helping Brazil to the next round as top scorers. In the quarter-finals, Pele scored the only goal as Brazil beat Wales 1-0. As a result, he became the youngest player to score at a World Cup, at the age of 17 years and 239 days.

Pele scored three goals in the 5-2 semi-final win over France and became the youngest player to score a hat-trick at the World Cup. In the final, Pele continued to explode with a double to help Brazil beat Sweden 5-2, thereby becoming the youngest player to appear and score in a final, as well as the youngest player to ever win the World Cup, at just 17 years and 249 days.

Not only was he a prolific goalscorer, Pele was also a prolific creator, putting his teammates in the perfect positions to score. He provided 10 assists in three World Cups - a record that has yet to be broken.

Pele also holds the record for most assists in a single World Cup, with six at Mexico 1970. The Brazilian had one assist in the 1958 final, and two in the 1970 final. This made him the only player to have three assists in World Cup finals.

Pele also holds the record for most assists in the World Cup knockout round with 6, equal to Lionel Messi.

Top goalscorer in Santos and Brazil history

Pele kisses the Jules Rimet Cup - the cup for the 1970 World Cup champions. Photo:FIFA

Pele averaged nearly a goal per game, scoring 643 goals in at least 659 games for Santos – the club he played for for nearly two decades from 1956 to 1974.

Since then, no one has scored as many goals for a Brazilian club as Pele. He won six Brazilian league titles with Santos, two Copa Libertadores, two Intercontinental Cups and one Intercontinental Super Cup.

The number 643 also made Pele the player who held the record for most goals scored for a club for 46 years, until Lionel Messi set a new milestone on December 22, 2020. At that time, the Argentine star broke Pele's record with his 644th goal for Barca.

Pele also holds the record for most goals scored in the history of the Brazilian national team with 77 goals in 92 matches. At the 2022 World Cup, Neymar equaled Pele's record, but spent 124 matches to score 77 goals, 32 more than Pele.

Player with most goals in his career

Pele is recognized by both Guinness World Records and FIFA as the highest-scoring football player in history, but no specific number is given.

According to Guinness World Records, Pele scored 1,279 goals in 1,363 matches, including those in friendlies, amateur, reserve team and national youth matches.

Pele scores a bicycle kick in a Santos match in September 1968. Photo:AP

FIFA and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) confirmed that Pele scored 1,281 goals, while Santos club historian Odir Cunha told ESPN in March 2021 that Pele scored 1,282 goals in his entire career.

Pele himself claimed to have scored 1,283 goals in his career, and even posted this information on Facebook.Twitter2015.

Regardless of the exact figure, FIFA recognizes the Brazilian legend as the only player to score 25 goals for his country before turning 18, and he reached the milestone in 20 games.

Scored over 100 goals in two calendar years

Pele (left) scores against goalkeeper Claude Abbes in Brazil's 5-2 win over France in the 1958 World Cup semi-final. Photo:PA Images

FIFA recognized Pele as having scored 127 goals in 1959 and 110 goals in 1961. It is unclear whether this would give the "King of Football" the record for most goals scored in a calendar year.

Guinness World Records recognized Messi as the record holder of 91 goals in 2012. That same year, the Zambia Football Association announced that their star, Godfrey Chitalu, had scored 107 goals for club and country in 1972.

FIFA spokesman Alex Stone later toldBBC Sportthat "it is not an official FIFA record", because they do not keep records domestically. Therefore, neither Messi nor Chitalu are recognized by FIFA as the record holders for most goals scored in a calendar year.

Numerous personal titles and awards

In 1999, Pele was voted the best player of the 20th century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). He was also honored with the Olympic Medal – the highest honor awarded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – in 2016 at the Pele museum in Santos.

Pele received the International Peace Prize in 1978, an honorary Knighthood of the British Empire in 1997 for his work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and was named FIFA Player of the Century in 2000, along with the late Argentine legend Diego Maradona.

Despite this, Pele never won the Ballon d'Or - football's highest individual award. But the Ballon d'Or was not awarded to non-European players until 1995. Furthermore, no player playing outside Europe was eligible for the Ballon d'Or until 2007 - the year the magazineFrance Footballhas expanded the award voting to all players in the world

Pele was emotional and cried when receiving the Golden Ball of Honor at the FIFA Golden Ball awards ceremony on January 13, 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland. Photo: FIFA

Therefore, neither Pele nor Maradona has ever won the Ballon d'Or. But in 2013, Pele was awarded the Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur by FIFA.

Pele also received the first Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, and was one of three sportsmen – along with boxer Muhammad Ali and baseball player Jackie Robinson – to appear in the magazine's list of 'The Most Important People of the Century'.TIMEin 1999.

The Brazilian legend is also credited by FIFA for coining the term "The Beautiful Game" for football.