The Immortal King: 15 Fascinating Facts About Pelé

1. Pelé was named after Thomas Edison, and his birth certificate got it wrong.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born in Três Corações, Brazil, in October 1940, shortly after electric light arrived in the town. His parents named him after the American inventor Thomas Edison but decided to drop the "i" and call him Edson. A clerk recorded the name as "Edison" anyway, so many official documents carried a different spelling from the one he actually used. At home, his family simply called him "Dico".

2. He hated the nickname "Pelé" as a boy.

Pelé said the nickname probably came from his childhood mispronunciation of the name of his favourite player, a goalkeeper called Bilé. His schoolmates teased him with the word, and he disliked it so much that he once punched a classmate over it and was suspended from school. In his 2006 autobiography, he admitted that neither he nor his friends ever knew what "Pelé" actually meant.

3. He learned to play with a sock stuffed with newspaper.

Pelé grew up in poverty in the city of Bauru, where he earned money by working in tea shops. His family could not afford a proper football, so he practised with a grapefruit or a sock stuffed with newspaper and tied with string. Playing with such unpredictable "balls" on dirt streets helped him develop the close control that later amazed the world.

4. Brazil declared him a national treasure so he could not leave.

After he starred at the 1958 World Cup as a 17-year-old, Europe's richest clubs, including Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United, tried to sign him. In 1961, the government of President Jânio Quadros declared Pelé an "official national treasure" to prevent him from being transferred abroad. As a result, he spent almost his entire career at Santos and never played for a European club.

5. The famous Nigerian ceasefire story may never have happened.

It is often said that both sides in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour truce in 1969 so they could watch Pelé play in Lagos. Santos did play there, drawing 2–2 with the local side Stationary Stores, with Pelé scoring both goals. However, one of the earliest sources for the ceasefire story is a magazine article published in 1975, and the war continued for months afterwards. Even Pelé wrote that he was not sure a ceasefire had taken place, although he remembered unusually heavy security.

6. His famous goal record includes friendlies and army matches.

Guinness World Records credits Pelé with 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, and FIFA has often quoted a figure of 1,281. These totals include friendlies, exhibition tours and games he played for Brazilian military teams during his national service. Even so, his 643 goals for Santos stood as the record for a single club for decades, until Lionel Messi passed it at Barcelona in December 2020.

7. His 1,000th goal stopped a match at the Maracanã.

On 19 November 1969, the whole of Brazil was waiting for "O Milésimo", Pelé's thousandth goal. It finally came from a penalty against Vasco da Gama in front of a huge crowd at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. Fans and reporters flooded onto the pitch, and play was halted for a long time while he was carried around the stadium. He dedicated the goal to the children of Brazil and used the moment to call for better care for poor children.

8. He played in goal for Santos.

Pelé was not only a forward. In an era of very limited substitutions, he sometimes took over between the posts when his team's goalkeeper was injured or sent off. Santos records credit him with several appearances in goal, including an important Taça Brasil semi-final against Grêmio. He reportedly did not concede in those matches.

9. A referee was sent off instead of him.

During a friendly between Santos and a Colombian team in Bogotá in 1968, referee Guillermo Velásquez sent Pelé off after an argument. The crowd, which had come specifically to see the Brazilian star, reacted with fury. To calm the stadium, the officials replaced the referee with one of the linesmen and allowed Pelé to return to the field.

10. He vowed never to play at a World Cup again after 1966.

At the 1966 World Cup in England, Pelé was the target of brutal tackles, especially in matches against Bulgaria and Portugal. Brazil were knocked out in the group stage, and an injured Pelé said he would never play in the tournament again. He changed his mind and returned in 1970 in Mexico, where Brazil's team, often regarded as the greatest of all time, won his third title.

11. A press conference for his US move descended into chaos.

Pelé came out of semi-retirement in 1975 to join the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. The club unveiled him at a chaotic press conference at New York's 21 Club, where hundreds of journalists packed the room. His arrival turned soccer into a celebrity event in the United States and helped attract other stars such as Franz Beckenbauer to the Cosmos. He finished his playing career in 1977 by winning the league title with the club.

12. He broke Sylvester Stallone's finger while filming a war movie.

In 1981, Pelé starred alongside Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone in "Escape to Victory", a film about Allied prisoners of war playing a football match against a German team. Stallone, who played the goalkeeper, later said that he broke a finger trying to stop one of Pelé's shots during filming. Pelé's acrobatic bicycle kick became one of the film's most memorable scenes.

13. As a government minister, he changed Brazilian football law.

In 1995, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso appointed Pelé as Brazil's Extraordinary Minister for Sport. He proposed legislation to tackle corruption and give players more freedom from their clubs, which became known as the "Pelé Law". It was passed in 1998 and ended the old system under which clubs could keep a player's registration even after his contract had expired.

14. He received an honorary British knighthood.

In 1997, Pelé was awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Because he was not a British or Commonwealth citizen, the honour was honorary, and he could not formally use the title "Sir". In 1999, the International Olympic Committee also named him Athlete of the Century.

15. His name is now an adjective in the Portuguese dictionary.

After Pelé died in December 2022, a campaign gathered more than 125,000 signatures asking for his name to enter the dictionary. On 26 April 2023, the Michaelis Portuguese dictionary added "pelé" as an adjective meaning someone or something exceptional, incomparable or unique. Brazilians can now describe a top doctor, artist or chef as "the pelé" of their field.