Team · national team · 1957–1971
Brazil
Brazil's national football team, for which Pelé won three World Cups and scored 77 goals in 92 matches between 1957 and 1971.
Pelé first played for Brazil on 7 July 1957, aged 16, and scored in a 2–1 defeat by Argentina. He remains the youngest player to score for his country. His last match was a 2–2 draw with Yugoslavia at the Maracanã on 18 July 1971.
In between he played in four World Cups and won three of them, in 1958, 1962 and 1970. No other man has won three. He scored 12 goals in 14 World Cup matches.
His international totals depend on who is counting. Wikipedia's figure of 77 goals in 92 matches includes one 1968 match against a Rest of the World side that FIFA does not recognise as official. The Brazilian Football Confederation credits him with 95 goals in 113 matches, because it also counts games against club sides.
His 77 goals stood as Brazil's record for more than fifty years, until Neymar passed it in September 2023. With Pelé on the pitch, Brazil won 67, drew 14 and lost 11. Brazil never lost a match in which both Pelé and Garrincha played.
Its home city or country
The tournaments it played with him
Its matches with him
- Brazil 1–2 Argentina7 July 1957 · Roca Cup, first leg
- Brazil 2–0 Soviet Union15 June 1958 · Group stage
- Brazil 1–0 Wales19 June 1958 · Quarter-final
- Brazil 5–2 France24 June 1958 · Semi-final
- Brazil 5–2 Sweden29 June 1958 · Final
- Brazil 2–0 Mexico30 May 1962 · Group stage
- Brazil 0–0 Czechoslovakia2 June 1962 · Group stage
- Brazil 2–0 Bulgaria12 July 1966 · Group stage
- Brazil 1–3 Portugal19 July 1966 · Group stage
- Brazil 4–1 Czechoslovakia3 June 1970 · Group stage
- Brazil 1–0 England7 June 1970 · Group stage
- Brazil 3–1 Uruguay17 June 1970 · Semi-final
- Brazil 4–1 Italy21 June 1970 · Final
- Brazil 2–2 Yugoslavia18 July 1971 · Friendly
Its people
- PeléHimself
- Waldemar de BritoYouth coach and discoverer
- Vicente FeolaBrazil coach, 1958 and 1966
- Mário ZagalloTeammate, then coach
- GarrinchaBrazil teammate
- DidiBrazil teammate
- VaváBrazil teammate
- Nílton SantosBrazil teammate
- CoutinhoSantos strike partner
- Carlos Alberto TorresBrazil captain and Cosmos teammate
- JairzinhoBrazil teammate
- TostãoBrazil teammate
- RivellinoBrazil teammate
The chapters it appears in
The honours he won with it
Questions this answers
How many goals did Pelé score?
It depends on what you count, and the figure is disputed. Counting friendlies and exhibitions, Guinness World Records credits him with 1,279 goals in 1,363 matches, FIFA uses 1,281, and Pelé himself claimed 1,283.
How many matches and goals did Pelé play and score for Brazil?
Pelé scored 77 goals in 92 matches for Brazil between 1957 and 1971, by the count most widely used. That total includes one 1968 match that FIFA does not recognise as official.