WORLD CUP
2026

Pelé retired from international football after the 1970 World Cup, though he played club football until 1977, including a stint with the New York Cosmos that helped grow the sport in the United States. After hanging up his boots, he did not disappear. He became a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, worked with children's charities, and campaigned for education and peace across Africa and Latin America. He spoke at the United Nations and used his fame to fight poverty, just as football had lifted him out of it decades earlier. FIFA named him Player of the Century alongside Diego Maradona, and every generation of stars from Cruyff to Messi to Mbappé cited Pelé as an inspiration. He remains the only player to win three World Cups, a record that may never be broken in the modern era of shorter careers and tougher competition. When Pelé died on 29 December 2022 at age eighty-two, Brazil declared three days of national mourning. Flags flew at half-mast, stadiums lit up in yellow and green, and fans left shirts and flowers at monuments from Santos to Paris. His story began on barefoot streets and ended as the king of the world's game. Every kid who kicks a ball in a dusty alley carries a piece of his legacy.