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Former Brazilian international Edson Arantes do Nascimento or ‘Pele’ is arguably the greatest footballer of all time. He is the holder of many footballing records and even after so many decades some of his records still stand. Pele is the all-time leading goalscorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 91 games and has 15 goals more than Ronaldo Nazario who scored 62 goals in 98 games. A few years back it looked like no player would be able to break that record, but considering the pace at which Neymar is racking up goals for the Selecao, the Barcelona man could break the record in a few years. After all, he is just 24 and has already scored 46 international goals.However, there are many other records held by Pele that are almost impossible to break. So here are five records held by the Brazilian that are likely to stand forever.
#1 Most FIFA World Cup winners medal for an individual
A total of 21 players have won the FIFA World Cup on more than one occasions, with 16 Brazilians, 4 Italians and an Argentine on the list. However, one player who stands above all is Pele.
Pele is the only footballer ever to win the World Cup on three occasions. Brazil have won the FIFA World Cup five times and Pele was part of three of those teams. He won back to back titles in 1958 and 1962 before lifting his third and final one in 1970.
This record is likely to be never broken because of the increasing competition in international tournaments. On top of that, a player aspiring to at least match Pele’s record needs to play in three FIFA World Cups. These days most players retire early from international football to prolong their club careers. So it would be fair to say that Pele’s record is here to stay.
#2 Most career goals in football
Pele was honoured with two Guinness World Records back in October 2013. The first was for being the player with the most world cup winners’ medal and the second was for scoring the most career goals in football.
The record was given to Pele for scoring 1283 career goals in 1363 games. These goals include the ones scored by the Brazilian in friendly matches, club’s amateur and reserve team games and junior national teams.
A comparison with the highest scoring active players will put things into perspective. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have the most goals among all the active players with 526 and 494 respectively. This tally is excluding the goals they scored in friendlies or for junior sides. Even if you take into account all those goals as well as the ones Messi and Ronaldo will score before they retire, there is very little chance that either of them will catch up to Pele.
#3 Most career hat-tricks
Almost all strikers who have scored goals in bulk will have a hat-trick to their name at some point in their career. So it is obvious that Pele who has 1283 career goals to his name will have scored a lot of hat-tricks and he has.
Pele has scored a record 92 hat-tricks in his career. This comprises of 21.5% of the goals he has scored in his career. He is also credited with six five-goal hauls and scored four in a game on 31 occasions.
To put matters into perspective, we compare Pele’s record with that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The former has 39 career hat-tricks to his name while the latter has 38.
#4 Youngest player to score hat-trick in FIFA World Cup
Pele has scored 92 hat-tricks in his career, but the hat-trick that most people will remember forever is one which he scored very early in his career.
Aged just 17 years and 244 days, Pele scored a hat-trick in the semi-final of the 1958 FIFA World Cup against France. This feat was five days after he became the youngster scorer in a world cup – a record he still holds.
Younger player may play at the FIFA World Cup, after all, a 16-year-old Theo Walcott travelled with England for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, the chances of a player breaking Pele’s record for being the youngest goal scorer or the youngest hat-trick scorer is very low as the record still stand after 58 years and 15 tournaments!
#5 Youngest player to score in a FIFA World Cup final
When Pele played for the first time in a FIFA World Cup in 1958, he became the youngest player to play in a World Cup, but the record was broken later. However, his records for being the youngest scorer and the youngest hat-trick scorer in the tournament still stands.
In the final of the 1958 edition, Pele set one more record which stands true even today. During the final against host nation Sweden, Pele scored a brace of which the first one is considered as one of the greatest goals in the history of the FIFA World Cup.
His two goals in the final was when he was just 17 years and 249 days old. These goals also took his tally for the tournament to six, which put him joint second behind Just Fontaine.
Most teams that are capable of making it to the final of the FIFA World Cup usually pick an experienced team for the tournament. So even if some younger player manages to play in the World Cup final, what are the chances that he will score?
