Brazil football legend Pele has died at the age of 82.
The Associated Press confirmed the news, saying: “Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, winner of record 3 World Cups and standard-bearer for ‘the beautiful game,’ has died at 82.”
Widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, Pele is the only man to have won the World Cup on three occasions, as he helped Brazil to success at the 1958, 1962 and 1970 tournaments, also winning the Golden Ball for best player at the latter.
At the first of those, the then-17-year-old became the youngest player to appear at a men’s World Cup although his record was subsequently broken by Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside.
During a 21-year playing career, he is said to have scored 1,283 goals in 1,363 senior matches for clubs and country, although that number is disputed given it included unofficial friendlies and tour matches.
