[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Pele, who passed away on the 30th (Korean time), left numerous records that will be forever etched in history, as his nickname "The King of Football" suggests.
Pele is the only player to have won the World Cup three times. He led Brazil to their first victory at the 1958 Sweden tournament, and also won the championship in 1962 in Chile and 1970 in Mexico. When he lifted his first World Cup trophy at the 1958 Sweden tournament, Pele was 17 years and 249 days old, which remains the youngest record in history.
Pele participated in four World Cups, playing 14 matches and recording 12 goals and 8 assists. At the 1970 Mexico World Cup, he set the record for the most assists in a single World Cup with 6 assists.
The F?d?ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) recognizes that Pele scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches over 21 years as a club player. However, this is not entirely accurate. Pele claimed his total career goals were 1,283, two more than FIFA's official count. Due to the age of the records, their accuracy is questionable, and many statistics that recognize Pele's total goals count fewer goals, excluding many scored in friendly and tour matches. The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) acknowledges Pele's official competition goal tally as 767 goals. The Guinness World Records recognizes Pele's total career goals as 1,279, listing him as the player with the most goals in history.
Pele never played in a European league. From 1956 to 1974, he spent his entire club career at the prestigious Brazilian club Santos, and in 1975, he joined the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL), playing three seasons before retiring.
At Santos, Pele appeared in 659 matches and scored 643 goals. Until December 2020, when Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain), who played for Spain's FC Barcelona, surpassed this record, it was the record for the most goals scored for a single club. Messi scored 672 goals in 778 official matches for Barcelona alone.
In 1959, Pele scored 127 goals for Santos, which is recognized as the highest number of goals scored by a single player for a club team within one calendar year (January to December).
Pele won the Intercontinental Cup, the predecessor of the FIFA Club World Cup, twice with Santos, as well as the Copa Libertadores, the South American club competition, twice. He won the Brazilian first division six times and was the top scorer three times, and in the S?o Paulo state league, he achieved ten championships and was the top scorer eleven times.
As a member of the Brazil national team, Pele scored 72 goals in 92 matches, holding the record for the most goals scored for the Brazil national team. However, Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) scored his 77th goal in an A-match at this year's Qatar World Cup, matching Pele's record and is expected to soon set a new record.
The Brazil national team recorded 67 wins, 14 draws, and 11 losses in matches where Pele played.
After retiring, Pele remained active as a football commentator and goodwill ambassador. He was appointed Brazil's Minister of Sports, becoming the first black minister, and served for three years starting in 1995. During his tenure, he led reforms in Brazilian football by introducing the so-called "Pele Law," which included expanding free agency, allowing the formation of referee unions, and creating new professional leagues that did not require approval from the football association.
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