July 02, 2024

Pele (Footballer) Biography, Age, Death, Height, Wife, Children, Family, Facts, Wiki & More

Updated On : December 30, 2022

Pele Popularity on Social Media

Short Biography

Pele was born on 23-10-1940 in Tres Coracoes in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil as Edson Arantes do Nascimento. He was a Brazilian Football Player, Humanitarian, Television Actor, Film Actor, Author & Politician. He played as a forward for the Brazil national football team from 1957 to 1971. He served as the Minister of Sports of Brazil from 01-01-1995 to 30-04-1998 (resigned).

Other Name: Pelé, Dico, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, The Black Pearl, The King of Football, The King Pele
Other Professions: Humanitarian Television Actor Film Actor Author Politician

Pele Complete Bio & Career

Pele’s birth name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento. He was fondly called "Dico". He was raised in poverty. He though developed skills for playing soccer by kicking pieces of stuff on the streets of Bauru. 
 
He started off his journey by joining a youth squad. That squad was coached by former international star Waldemar de Brito. He was highly impressed with his skills and thus convinced his family and made him join Santos's professional soccer club. He was just 15 years old then. Soon after joining the squad, he became the poster boy of the team and scored his first goal even before he turned 16. Soon after coming into the reckoning, he was drafted into the National side. He was included in the squad that was announced for the 1958 football world cup. He was instrumental in Brazil’s win in that world cup as the 17-year-old had three goals in the semi-finals and two in the finals. After his heroics was offered a lot of lucrative deals to play for European clubs and was officially declared a national treasure by the then-Brazilian President, Jânio Quadros. 
 
In the next two world cups, he had to wait on the sidelines as he was nursing injuries. However, he showed what he is capable of in the 1970 Football World Cup in Mexico. He netted four goals in the tournament which includes one screamer in the finals against Italy which made them lift the World Cup once again. He announced his retirement from the international arena in the year 1974 but kept playing in the North American Soccer League and finally played his last match in 1977. He retired with 1281 goals to his name from 1362 games. 
 
Retirement didn’t diminish his popularity at all and is even today considered a legend in the world of football. He was named "Co-Player of the Century" by FIFA in the year 1999 alongside legendary Argentine footballer “Diego Maradona”. In 2006, he published his autobiography called Pele: The Autobiography. Pele’s birth name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento. He was fondly called "Dico". He was raised in poverty. He though developed skills for playing soccer by kicking pieces of stuff on the streets of Bauru. 
 
He started off his journey by joining a youth squad. That squad was coached by former international star Waldemar de Brito. He was highly impressed with his skills and thus convinced his family and made him join Santos's professional soccer club. He was just 15 years old then. Soon after joining the squad, he became the poster boy of the team and scored his first goal even before he turned 16. Soon after coming into the reckoning, he was drafted into the National side. He was included in the squad that was announced for the 1958 football world cup. He was instrumental in Brazil’s win in that world cup as the 17-year-old had three goals in the semi-finals and two in the finals. After his heroics was offered a lot of lucrative deals to play for European clubs and was officially declared a national treasure by the then-Brazilian President, Jânio Quadros. 
 
In the next two world cups, he had to wait on the sidelines as he was nursing injuries. However, he showed what he is capable of in the 1970 Football World Cup in Mexico. He netted four goals in the tournament which includes one screamer in the finals against Italy which made them lift the World Cup once again. He announced his retirement from the international arena in the year 1974 but kept playing in the North American Soccer League and finally played his last match in 1977. He retired with 1281 goals to his name from 1362 games. 
 
Retirement didn’t diminish his popularity at all and is even today considered a legend in the world of football. He was named "Co-Player of the Century" by FIFA in the year 1999 alongside legendary Argentine footballer “Diego Maradona”. In 2006, he published his autobiography called Pele: The Autobiography. 

Pele Popular Videos

Pele Family, Relatives and Other Relations

Father Dondinho (Joao Ramos do Nascimento) 
Mother Celeste Arantes
Sister Maria Lucia Nascimento
Brother Zoca Nascimento
Spouse Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi (1966-1982), Assiria Lemos Seixas (1994-2008), Marcia Aoki (2016-2022)
Sons Edinho, Joshua Nascimento
Daughters Kelly Cristina Nascimento, Jennifer Nascimento, Celeste Nascimento, Sandra Regina Arantes do Nascimento, Flavia Christina Kurtz Nascimento

He was born to Joao Ramos do Nascimento (Dondinho) and Celeste Arantes. His father was a Brazilian footballer. He had a younger sister named Maria Lucia Nascimento and a younger brother named Zoca. He was married thrice. On 21-02-1966, he married Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi. Together they had a son named Edson Cholbi do Nascimento (Edinho) and two daughters named Kelly Cristina Nascimento & Jennifer Nascimento. The couple got divorced in 1982. On 27-03-1994, he remarried Assiria Lemos Seixas. The couple was blessed with twins, a baby boy named Joshua Nascimento and a baby girl named Celeste Nascimento. He divorced Assiria in 2008. He also had several affairs and had two more daughters named Sandra Regina Arantes do Nascimento and Flavia Christina Kurtz Nascimento. On 09-07-2016, he married Marcia Aoki. His son Edinho is a Brazilian football coach.

Life's Important Dates Of Pele

Body Measurements

Skin Colour Black
Eye Colour Dark Brown
Hair Colour Dark Brown

Personal Info

Nationality Brazilian
Religion Roman Catholic
Marital Status Married
Debut 7 September 1956 against Corinthians Santo Andre
Net Worth $100 Million

Shocking / Interesting Facts & Secrets About Pele

  • In the late 1960s, the two factions in the Nigerian Civil War reportedly agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play in an exhibition game in Lagos.
  • The greatest footballer of all time may be retired for 40 years but his exploits live on today.
  • When Brazil lost the World Cup final to Uruguay in 1950, Pelé saw his father crying. “Don’t worry,” he told him. “One day I’ll win it.”
  • Pelé signed for Santos at the tender age of 15 and proceeded to score four goals on his debut against FC Corinthians.
  • The Brazil and Santos star wasn’t someone who was happy scoring just one goal. He scored 92 hat tricks, four goals on 31 occasions, five goals on six occasions and he once scored eight in a single match.
  • He’s the only player to win three World Cups.
  • Pelé got his nickname after his mispronunciation of the name of the Brazilian goalkeeper, Bilé, as Pelé. One of his classmates started to call him “Pelé” to tease him and the name stuck.
  • Pele scored his 1000th goal on 19 November 1969, causing the day to be simply known as Pele Day in Santos.
  • Pelé served as Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister of Sport between 1995 and 1998. He also served as a United Nations ambassador for Ecology and the Environment.

Pele Age, Birthday Facts and Birthday Countdown

83 years, 8months, 9 days old age Pele will turn 84 on 23 October, 2024. Only 3 months, 20 days, his next birthday.

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Birthdays Celebrated on Each Day of Week

Pele has celebrated the total number of 84 birthdays till date. See the analysis by days count and bar graph.

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