1- Pele was born on October 23, 1940, in Minas Gerais, Brazil. His real name is "Edson Arantes do Nascimento."
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
2- In childhood, Pele's nickname was "Dico," which was given by his parents. The nickname "Pele" he got during his school days.
3- Pele's family was very poor, and to earn more money than they needed, Pele had to work as a servant in different tea shops.
4- Pele learned football from his father. He even does not have a real football for practice, he used to play with a football made from a sock stuffed with newspapers.
5- At the age of 15, Pele started playing for the Santos Futebol Clube, and later, at age 16, he joined the Brazil National Football Team.
6- Pele won three FIFA WC Championships (1958, 1962, and 1970) in his international football career. Pele won his first FIFA World Cup when he was 17 years old.
7- At the age of 18, Pele was awarded the FIFA World Cup's Best Young Player Award in 1958. In the same year, he also won the FIFA WC silver ball.
8- In 1999, the International Olympic Committee named Pele the athlete of the century.
9- In 1999, Time magazine included Pele in its list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century.
10- During his career, Pele scored a total of 1,279 goals in 1,363 football matches, which is a Guinness World Record.
11- Pele was a great striker. During his career, he has an average of scoring one goal in every football match.
12- Pele retired from international football in 1977, and during his international career he was also the best-paid athlete in the world.