SAO PAULO : Pelé, the Brazilian soccer king who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most powerful sports figures of the twentieth century, died on Thursday. He was 82.

Since 2021, the "beautiful game's" standard-bearer had been undergoing treatment for colon cancer. According to the medical centre where he had been hospitalized for the previous month, he died of cancer-related multiple organ failure.

"We are all because of you," his daughter Kely Nascimento wrote on Instagram. "We will always love you. "May you rest in peace."

Widely regarded as one of soccer`s greatest players, Pelé spent nearly two decades enchanting fans and dazzling opponents as the game`s most prolific scorer with Brazilian club Santos and the Brazil national team. He carried Brazil to soccer`s heights and became a global ambassador for his sport in a journey that began on the streets of Sao Paulo state, where he would kick a sock stuffed with newspapers or rags.

In the conversation about soccer`s greatest players, only the late Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are mentioned alongside Pelé. The player who would be dubbed “The King” was introduced to the world at 17 at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the youngest player ever at the tournament.

The image of Pelé in a bright, yellow Brazil jersey, with the No. 10 stamped on the back, remains alive with soccer fans everywhere. As does his trademark goal celebration -- a leap with a right fist thrust high above his head.

Pelé’s fame was such that in 1967 factions of a civil war in Nigeria agreed to a brief cease-fire so he could play an exhibition match in the country. He was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in 1997. When he visited Washington to help popularize the game in North America, it was the U.S. president who stuck out his hand first.

Pelé was Brazil`s first modern Black national hero but rarely spoke about racism in a country where the rich and powerful tend to hail from the white minority. “He said that he would never play if he had to stop every time he heard those chants,” said Angelica Basthi, one of Pelé`s biographers. “He is key for Black people`s pride in Brazil, but never wanted to be a flagbearer.”


Pelé`s life after soccer took many forms. He was often seen in a wheelchair during his final years and did not attend a ceremony to unveil a statue of him representing Brazil`s 1970 World Cup team. Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, in the small city of Tres Coracoes in the interior of Minas Gerais state on Oct. 23, 1940, Pelé grew up shining shoes to buy his modest soccer gear.

Pelé`s talent drew attention when he was 11, and a local professional player brought him to Santos` youth squads. He went to the 1958 World Cup as a reserve but became a key player for his country`s championship team. His first goal, in which he flicked the ball over the head of a defender and raced around him to volley it home, was voted one of the best in World Cup history.

Brazil was knocked out in the group stage and Pelé, angry at the rough treatment, swore it was his last World Cup. Pelé likened the save — one of the best in World Cup history — to a “salmon climbing up a waterfall.” Later, he scored the opening goal in the final against Italy, his last World Cup match. In all, Pelé played 114 matches with Brazil, scoring a record 95 goals, including 77 in official matches.

On the field, Pelé`s energy, vision and imagination drove a gifted Brazilian national team with a fast, fluid style of play that exemplified “O Jogo Bonito” -- Portuguese for “The Beautiful Game.” His 1977 autobiography, “My Life and the Beautiful Game,” made the phrase part of soccer`s lexicon. In 1975, he joined the New York Cosmos of
the North American Soccer League.

Pele ended his career on October 1, 1977, at a show between Cosmos and Santos held in front of approximately 77,000 spectators in New Jersey. He played half for each club. Among the dignitaries in attendance was Muhammad Ali, perhaps the only athlete to have made a name for himself in the world.

Pele has gone through difficult times in his personal life, especially when his son Edinho was arrested for drug-related crimes. Pele had two illegitimate daughters and five children from his first two marriages to Rosemeri dos Reis Chorbi and Assyria Seixas Lemos. She then married businessman Marcia Civere Aoki.