Person1940 – 2022

Pelé

Also called: Edson Arantes do Nascimento

Brazilian footballer who won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970, the only player to win it three times

Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, he grew up poor and joined Santos FC at fifteen. At seventeen he scored twice in the 1958 final in Sweden to win Brazil’s first title. Injured during the 1962 tournament, he still collected a second winner’s medal as Brazil retained the cup, and in Mexico in 1970 he won a third, the only player ever to do so. He later played for the New York Cosmos, popularizing the game in the United States, and served as Brazil’s sports minister. He died in São Paulo in 2022.

Show on the map

Where they went

Open the full map

OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors

3 related events

1
19581958 FIFA World Cup Swedenparticipant
A seventeen-year-old Pelé burst onto the scene as Brazil beat the hosts Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title.
2
19621962 FIFA World Cup Chileparticipant
Staged by an earthquake-stricken Chile. With Pelé injured, Garrincha carried Brazil to a 3–1 win over Czechoslovakia and a second straight title.
3
19701970 FIFA World Cup Mexicokey figure
The first World Cup broadcast live around the world in colour. Pelé’s Brazil beat Italy 4–1 in the final for a third title and kept the Jules Rimet Cup for good.

People who appear alongside

Franz Beckenbauer1945 – 2024
West German footballer and coach who won the World Cup as captain in 1974 and as coach in 1990, and chaired the organizing committee of the 2006 World Cup; nicknamed “Der Kaiser”

Themes this person appears in

FIFA World Cup1904 – 2026
From the founding of FIFA to the 48-team tournament in North America — the football championship that has gathered the world every four years since Uruguay 1930