Pelé

Also known as Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele, O Rei

Edson Arantes do Nascimento (23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé, was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history, he was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century. His 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which includes friendlies, is recognised as a Guinness World Record. In 1999, he was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and was included in the Time list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. In 2000, Pelé was vot

OverviewAI-generated

Pelé (1940–2022) was a Brazilian association football player, politician, and actor. Born in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, he played as a forward and midfielder for Santos F.C., the Brazil men's national football team, New York Cosmos, and Bauru Atlético Clube. He also participated in the 1958, 1962, 1966, and 1970 FIFA World Cups. His professional roles included employment with the United Nations and work in Brasília.

He received the Order of Rio Branco, the BBC World Sport Star of the Year, the South American Footballer of the Year award, and the National Order of Merit. Pelé was an author with works including *The Pelé albums* and *Pelé, a autobiografia*. He spoke Portuguese, English, and Spanish. His father was Dondinho, and his child was Edson Cholbi Nascimento. He was also known by the pseudonym Pelé.

Synthesized by Vinony from 51 facts across 10 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Firecrawl, Wikiquote, Thesportsdb, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born: 1940
Works: 13

Top works

The Pelé albums
Pelé, a autobiografia
Examen a Zapatero
Pelé
Pelé

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Edson Arantes do Nascimento (born 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), known as Pelé, was a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, he was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century. In 1999 he was named Athlete of the Century by the International…

Known for

When Soccer Came to America: Goals, Glamour and the Beautiful Game — Self (Archive Footage)2026
Pelé: O Jogador do Milênio — Self2025
Kenny Dalglish — Self (archive footage)2025
Placar: A Revista Militante — Self2024
Brasiliana: The Black Musical That Introduced Brazil to the World — Himself (archive footage)2024
Jair Rodrigues - Let Them Talk — Self (archive footage)2023
L'Âge d'or de la pub — Self (archive footage)2023
70 Jahre Annemarie Moser-Pröll – Ein Leben als Wintermärchen — Self (archive footage)2023
Pelé - Long Live the King2023
Pelé e o Gol na Rua Javari — Self (archive footage)2022

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Male
Origin: United Kingdom
Active from: 1940
Active to: 2022

Discography

Discogs

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 4,511
Total plays: 56,882

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

SINE exonic insertion in the PTPLA gene leads to multiple splicing defects and segregates with the autosomal recessive centronuclear myopathy in dogs
· 2005 · cited 125x
Social networks in primates: smart and tolerant species have more efficient networks
· 2014 · cited 122x
Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants and Infant Growth: A Pooled Analysis of Seven European Birth Cohorts
· 2015 · cited 117x
First Study on Ammonia Spray Characteristics with a Current GDI Engine Injector
· 2021 · cited 116x
Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) anticipation of food return: Coping with waiting time in an exchange task.
· 2007 · cited 101x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

“A penalty is a cowardly way to score.”
“Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pelé. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man.”
“When I was a professional footballer at Santos [where he played from 1956-74] there was a lot of time hanging around team hotels doing nothing. My way of passing the time was writing songs and strumming my guitar [...] I have written more than 500 songs. Sometimes I just write the lyrics. Sometimes the lyrics come with a melody. Even now, wherever I go I always have my little tape recorder - and tape everything that comes into my head. All my homes have guitars.”
“[On his unpublicized work as a songwriter.] I didn't want the public to make the comparison between Pele the composer and Pele the footballer. That would have been a huge injustice - in football my talent was a gift from God, music was just for fun.'”
“Success is not an accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.image: Pele con brasil (cropped).jpg
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.caption: Pelé with Brazil in 1970
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.birth_name: Edson Arantes do Nascimento
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.birth_place: Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.death_place: São Paulo, Brazil
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.resting_place: Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica, Santos, São Paulo
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.height: 1.73 m
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.alma_mater: Metropolitan University of Santos (UNIMES)
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.children: 7, including Edinho and Joshua Nascimento
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.signature: Firma de Pelé.svg
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.signature_size: 110x110px
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.father: Dondinho
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.mother: Dona Celeste
Person <! SEE TALK PAGE FOR DISCUSSION >.relatives: Zoca (brother)
Football biography.embed: yes
Football biography.header color: lavender
Football biography.position: Forward, attacking midfielder
Football biography.youthyears1: 1953–1956

via Wikipedia infobox

Sports profile

Sport: Soccer
Team: Guingamp
Position: Midfielder
Nationality: France

via TheSportsDB

Official website

Home | Pelé

pele10.org →

After retiring from football in 1977, Pelé concentrated on using his fame to work for causes he believed in, ranging from world peace to international children’s rights and poverty alleviation. Our purpose for existing is to preserve the legacy of King Pelé, keeping his humanitarian works active and generating positive impacts in the fight for education and the battle against poverty and hunger worldwide. After retiring from football in 1977, Pelé concentrated on using his fame to work for causes he believed in, ranging from world peace to international children’s rights and poverty alleviation. The Pelé Foundation is a US-based 501c3 non-profit organization created while the King was still alive, to continue building a more just, equal, and loving society.