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Pelé scored his first World Cup goal at 17 — then won the whole thing
💡 Pelé won his first World Cup at just 17 years old — and went on to win three, a record no player has ever matched.
In 1958, a 17-year-old named Edson Arantes do Nascimento — known to the world as Pelé — traveled to Sweden with the Brazilian national team and did something no teenager had done before: he became the youngest player to score in a World Cup final.
Pelé scored six goals in the tournament, including two in the final against Sweden, as Brazil won their first World Cup title. His performance was so extraordinary that Swedish defenders were reportedly applauding his skills during the match.
Pelé would go on to win three World Cups (1958, 1962, 1970), a record that still stands. His 1970 Brazil team is widely considered the greatest football team ever assembled. By the time he retired, Pelé had scored over 1,200 career goals, earning him the title "O Rei" — The King.