Team · club · 1956–1974
Santos FC
The São Paulo state club Pelé played for from 1956 to 1974, and for which he scored 643 goals in official matches.
Santos Futebol Clube was founded in 1912 in the port city of Santos. It was already a two-time state champion when a 15-year-old Pelé arrived for a trial in 1956, brought by his youth coach Waldemar de Brito. He signed that June and stayed for 18 seasons.
With Pelé, Coutinho, Pepe, Zito and Dorval, Santos became one of the most admired teams in the world. The side is remembered in Brazil as Os Santásticos. It won ten Campeonato Paulista titles, six national championships, two Copa Libertadores (1962 and 1963) and two Intercontinental Cups (1962 and 1963) with him.
Because Pelé drew crowds everywhere, the club toured Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas for lucrative friendlies. That is why his goal counts vary so much. English Wikipedia, working from RSSSF data, credits him with 643 goals in 659 official competitive matches for Santos. Counts that include friendlies are far higher, at about 1,091 goals.
He played his last official match for the club at Vila Belmiro on 2 October 1974. Santos was also where he was mourned: his coffin lay in state at Vila Belmiro in January 2023.
Its home city or country
The tournaments it played with him
Its matches with him
- Santos 7–1 Corinthians de Santo André7 September 1956 · Friendly
- Santos 3–1 Fluminense5 March 1961 · Torneio Rio–São Paulo
- Santos 5–2 Benfica11 October 1962 · Intercontinental Cup, second leg
- Santos 2–1 Vasco da Gama19 November 1969 · Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa
- Santos 2–0 Ponte Preta2 October 1974 · Campeonato Paulista
The matches it played against him
Its people
The chapters it appears in
The honours he won with it
- Campeonato Paulista top scorer (eleven times)1957 · individual award
- Campeonato Paulista (ten titles)1958 · club trophy
- Torneio Rio–São Paulo (four titles)1959 · club trophy
- Brazilian national championship (six titles)1961 · club trophy
- Copa Libertadores, 19621962 · club trophy
- Intercontinental Cup, 19621962 · club trophy
- Copa Libertadores, 19631963 · club trophy
- Intercontinental Cup, 19631963 · club trophy
- South American Footballer of the Year, 19731973 · individual award
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.
Which clubs did Pelé play for?
Pelé played professionally for only two clubs: Santos in Brazil, from 1956 to 1974, and the New York Cosmos in the United States, from 1975 to 1977. As a boy he played for the junior team of Bauru Atlético Clube.
Did Pelé ever play in Europe?
No, Pelé never played for a European club. Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United and Inter Milan all tried to sign him, and in 1961 Brazil's government declared him a national treasure to keep him at home.