Pele .'s records

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

Pele started 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 years old, 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 two factions in the Nigerian civil war agreed to stop fighting for 48 hours just to watch Pele play, when he and Santos went on a tour in Nigeria. These show how highly regarded the King of Football was from the very beginning of his career. Here are the records he set in 21 years of playing football.

Pele was crowned three times in the world number one tournament at the national team level, twice in a row in 1958, 1962 and the last time in 1970. In which, 1958 was the first World Cup championship of Brazil - a rich and successful country. the most with five times winning the Gold Cup.

This is one of Pele's many Guinness World Records. In total, there are 21 players - including Pele - who have won the World Cup more than once. Including 16 Brazilian players, four Italian players and one Argentinian.

Pele made his World Cup debut in 1958 at the age of 17 years and 234 days. He immediately left a mark when creating for Vava to seal a 2-0 victory over the Soviet Union, helping Brazil go on to the top. In the quarter-finals, Pele scored the only goal to help Brazil beat Wales 1-0. Thanks to that, he became the youngest player to shoot at the World Cup, at the age of 17 years and 239 days.

Pele contributed three goals in the semi-final against France 5-2 and became the youngest player to score a hat-trick at the World Cup. In the final, Pele continued to explode with a brace 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 ever to win the World Cup. Cup, at the age of 17 years and 249 days.

Not only is he a sharp goalscorer, Pele can also play the role of a perfect playmaker with the ability to put teammates in the most perfect positions to score. He has 10 assists in three World Cups - a record that has yet to be broken.

Pele also holds the record for assists in a World Cup, with six assists in Mexico 1970. The Brazilian player had one assist in the 1958 final, and two in the 1970 final. At that time, he was the only player to have three assists in the World Cup finals.

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

Pele has a performance of close to one goal per game, scoring 643 goals in at least 659 games for Santos - the club he played for for nearly two decades between 1956 and 1974.

Since then, no one has scored as many goals as Pele for the Brazilian club. He and Santos won six Brazilian national championships, two Copa Libertadores, two Intercontinental Cups and one Intercontinental Super Cup.

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

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

Pele is recognized by both Guinness World Records and FIFA as the highest-scoring footballer of his career, but there is no specific figure.

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

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

Pele himself claims to have scored 1,283 goals in his career, and even posted this information on Twitter in 2015.

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

FIFA recognized Pele for scoring 127 goals in 1959 and 110 goals in 1961. It is not clear if this helps the "King of Football" hold the record for most goals in a calendar year or not.

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

FIFA spokesman Alex Stone later told BBC Sport that "it's not an official FIFA record", because they don't keep records in the country. Therefore, neither Messi nor Chitalu is recognized by FIFA as the record holder for the number of goals in a calendar year.

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, the Order of Honor of the British Empire in 1997 for his work as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. Pele was also honored by FIFA as the player of the century in 2000, along with the late Argentina legend Diego Maradona.

However, Pele has never won the Golden Ball - the highest individual award in football. But the Ballon d'Or was not awarded to non-European players until 1995. Furthermore, no player who played outside of Europe qualified for the Ballon d'Or until 2007 - the year the magazine reported. France Football has expanded the voting for the award to all players in the world

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

Pele also received the first Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, and is one of three athletes - along with boxer Muhammad Ali and baseball player Jackie Robinson - to make the list of 'People Who Matters'. most important of the century' by TIME magazine in 1999.

The Brazilian legend was also recognized by FIFA for coining the term "The Beautiful Game" for football.