Pelé’s career in numbers

Brazil’s Pele celebrates after scoring the opening goal in Brazil’s final match against Italy at the 1970 FIFA World Cup. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Factbox on the career statistics of former Brazil forward Pelé, who has died at the age of 82:

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* Won three World Cup titles with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970 – the only player to have won the showpiece tournament three times.

* Became the youngest-ever player to win the World Cup trophy at 17, a record that still stands.

* Scored 757 goals in 812 official matches for club and country, a record that stood for decades until Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo eclipsed his tally.

* Brazil’s football association (CBF) and Santos say Pelé scored a total of 1,283 goals in 1,367 matches while FIFA puts the figure at 1,281 goals in 1,366 games. Other sources give varying figures depending on the types of games included.

* Netted 77 goals in 92 official matches for Brazil – the country’s all-time leading goal scorer, alongside Neymar, who netted his 77th goal in the 2022 World Cup.

* Scored 12 goals in World Cups.

* Registered six assists at Mexico 1970 – a record for one World Cup.

* Scored 92 hat-tricks across official and unofficial games.

* Scored 127 goals for Santos in 1959, thought to be the most goals scored by a club player in one calendar year.

* Finished as Santos’ top scorer with 643 goals in 659 competitive matches.

* Won Brazil’s Serie A six times with Santos (1961-1965 and 1968).

* Led Santos to two Copa Libertadores titles (1962 and 1963).