Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento
Brazilian footballer (1940–2022) (Wikidata description)
- Nationality
- Brazil
- Born
- 23 October 1940
- Died
- 29 December 2022
- Position
- Forward
- Preferred foot
- Right
- Senior career
- 1953–1977
Clubs Bauru Atlético Clube · Santos F.C. · New York Cosmos
Career statistics
Club figures here are senior domestic-league matches unless marked otherwise; international figures are full senior caps. Youth, reserve, Olympic, friendly and unofficial matches are excluded from totals. Totals are summed from the individual sourced records below. Where a record is missing, the figure is shown as unavailable — never as zero.
Club league apps
724
Club league goals
754
International caps
92
International goals
77
League goals / match
1.04
International goals / cap
0.84
All official apps
Unavailable
All-competition totals not yet sourced
Goals per 90
Unavailable
Requires minutes for every match
Assists: Unavailable — assists were not recorded consistently before the modern data era.
Club-by-club and international breakdown
| Team | Years | Counts | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santos F.C.Club | 1956–1974 | League | 659 | 643 |
| Brazil men's national football teamNational team | 1957–1971 | Full caps | 92 | 77 |
| New York CosmosClub | 1975–1977 | League | 65 | 111 |
Season by season
Season-level records are unavailable for this player in the current sources. They will appear here when a licensed season-by-season source is imported.
Team accolades
- ×4
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
Domestic
- 1961 · Santos F.C.
- 1962 · Santos F.C.
- 1963 · Santos F.C.
- 1965 · Santos F.C.
- ×3
FIFA World Cup
International
- 1958 · Brazil men's national football team
- 1962 · Brazil men's national football team
- 1970 · Brazil men's national football team
- ×2
Copa Libertadores
Continental club
- 1962 · Santos F.C.
- 1963 · Santos F.C.
- ×2
Intercontinental Cup
Continental club
- 1962 · Santos F.C.
- 1963 · Santos F.C.
Sourced stated or derived from referenced statementsProvisional inferred from club stint dates — squad membership not individually verifiedVerified checked by an editor
Individual accolades
- ×1
Ballon d'Or Dream Team
Individual award · France Football
- 2020
- ×1
FIFA Player of the Century
Individual award · FIFA
- 2000
- ×1
FIFA World Cup Golden Ball
Performance award · FIFA
- 1970
- ×1
South American Footballer of the Year
Individual award · El Mundo / El País (Uruguay)
- 1973
Career timeline
1953
- Joins Bauru Atlético Clube — Until 1956
1956
- Joins Santos F.C. — Until 1974
1957
- Senior international debut: Brazil men's national football team — Until 1971
1958
- FIFA World Cup winner — 1958 · Brazil men's national football team
1961
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A winner — 1961 · Santos F.C.(provisional)
1962
- FIFA World Cup winner — 1962 · Brazil men's national football team
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A winner — 1962 · Santos F.C.(provisional)
- Copa Libertadores winner — 1962 · Santos F.C.(provisional)
- Intercontinental Cup winner — 1962 · Santos F.C.(provisional)
1963
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A winner — 1963 · Santos F.C.(provisional)
- Copa Libertadores winner — 1963 · Santos F.C.(provisional)
- Intercontinental Cup winner — 1963 · Santos F.C.(provisional)
1965
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A winner — 1965 · Santos F.C.(provisional)
1970
- FIFA World Cup Golden Ball — 1970(provisional)
- FIFA World Cup winner — 1970 · Brazil men's national football team
1973
- South American Footballer of the Year — 1973(provisional)
1975
- Joins New York Cosmos — Until 1977
2000
- FIFA Player of the Century — 2000(provisional)
2020
- Ballon d'Or Dream Team — 2020(provisional)
Statistical score explained
Snapshot v2, methodology v1.0.0, published 27 October 2026. Each category is scored 0–100, multiplied by its weight, and summed. Full methodology →
Overall score
67.5
Rank #15
Partially verified3/5 categories with full evidence · 18% of inputs directly sourced
Coverage describes how complete the evidence is. It is not a probability and is separate from the score.
Peak performanceLimited evidence50.6+15.18 points
- Best window
- 1969–1973
- Individual award points in window
- 11
- Award availability in window
- 0.122
- Team honor points in window
- 12
- Peak index
- 28
v1 measures peak through documented recognition (awards and titles) in the best rolling window, because season-level performance data is not available consistently across eras.
Award availability during the peak window was very low; this indicator understates players from that era.
Career performanceFull evidence89.7+22.43 points
- League goals per match
- 1.041 → 100
- International goals per cap
- 0.837 → 96.22
- International caps per year
- 6.13 → 73.44
Individual accoladesLimited evidence51.0+10.20 points
- Contemporary award points
- 11
- Award availability coverage
- 0.063
- Era-adjusted contemporary points
- 22
- Retrospective all-time honors
- 14
- Ballon d'Or Dream Team (2020)
- 4
- FIFA Player of the Century (2000)
- 10
- South American Footballer of the Year (1973)
- 5
- FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (1970)
- 6
Only 6% of the modern award opportunity existed for this player's career; contemporary points are scaled by at most 1/0.5 (floor) to limit extrapolation.
Team accomplishmentsFull evidence78.1+11.72 points
- Team honor points
- 61
- Club-league catalog coverage
- 0.88
- Intercontinental Cup (1962)
- 2.5
- Intercontinental Cup (1963)
- 2.5
- Copa Libertadores (1962)
- 6
- Copa Libertadores (1963)
- 6
- FIFA World Cup (1958)
- 12
- FIFA World Cup (1962)
- 12
- FIFA World Cup (1970)
- 12
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (1961)
- 2
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (1962)
- 2
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (1963)
- 2
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (1965)
- 2
Some club titles are inferred from stint dates overlapping a title-winning season (squad membership not individually verified).
LongevityFull evidence80.0+8.01 points
- Senior career length (years)
- 25 → 100
- Documented elite seasons
- 7 → 59
- International career length (years)
- 15 → 92.5
Appearance totals are deliberately not used, so accumulating matches alone does not raise this score.
Editorial biography
No editorial biography has been written yet. Biographies are written by hand with sources; none are generated automatically.
Sources
- Wikidata: Pelé (Q12897)CC0 1.0 · retrieved 27 October 2026
- Wikimedia Commons: Pele con brasil (cropped).jpgPublic domain · retrieved 27 October 2026