The life of the iconic ball artist Pelé (1940-2022) in fifteen photos

A seventeen-year-old Pelé cries on the chest of Brazilian goalkeeper Gylmar Dos Santos Neves. It is summer 1958 and Pelé has just helped Brazil to the World Cup with two goals, in the 5-2 final win against host country Sweden.

Among other things, Pelé made the bicycle kick mainstream. Here he performs one, hanging back over the field, in 1968 against Belgium.

Pelé also enjoyed unprecedented popularity outside the football field. Here he can be seen at the 34th edition of the international film festival in Cannes, France.

Pelé in 1995 in a hammock with that other deceased football legend, Maradona. When the Argentinian passed away in 2020, Pelé wrote that he hoped that “Diego and I will soon be able to kick a ball together in heaven.”

Pelé suddenly left for the American club New York Cosmos in 1975, while he had retired six months earlier from football. In the US, Pelé earned nearly a million and a half dollars a year; a remarkable salary for an athlete at the time.

In this 1990 photo, Pelé, dressed in Brazil’s yellow and blue, plays the ball in a match to celebrate his fiftieth birthday against a collection of great footballers of the era, including Marco van Basten. Pelé lost 2-1 in front of 20,000 spectators.

Pelé became world champion for the third time, this time in 1970. He still has the most football world championships to his name. In four World Cups he scored twelve goals, spread over fourteen games.

1971, one year after his third world title with Brazil. Pelé is celebrated in the French capital Paris, on the Champs-Elysées. He was in France to play a friendly against a French all-stars team with his Brazilian club Santos. Proceeds went to cancer research.

Pelé arrives in 1983 with his then girlfriend Xuxa at the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of the Spanish film Carmen.

Pelé waves to the 20,000 people in the stadium ahead of his 50th birthday friendly match.

Pelé cries after being awarded a Ballon d’Or Prix d’Honneur for lifetime achievement in 2013 at a FIFA football association ceremony in Switzerland. It was the first time that the prize was awarded.

An effigy of Pelé, made of ribbons, brightens up the streets of the Brazilian city of Manaus. The artwork, with several football symbols, was on display during the World Cup in Qatar last month.

Wherever there are Brazilian football fans, there is Pelé. These fans hold a mask of his face during the 2014 World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and Belgium in Brazil’s capital Brasilia.

It has been known for some time that Pelé’s health was deteriorating. As the Brazilian team plays against South Korea at the World Cup in Qatar, this football fan in Rio de Janeiro wishes the football legend strength.

Pelé is cheered by fans during the opening of the Territorio Santos Modelo sports complex in the Mexican city of Torreon in 2009. The first game at the stadium was between Pelé’s former club Santos and home team Santos Laguna.

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