Brazilian legend, Pele, who is arguably the greatest footballer of all time, has died at the age of 82. Born in Sao Paulo as Edison Arantes do Nascimento, Pele won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
The former striker, who is the only player in history to win three World Cups, passed away at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo on Thursday following a battle with cancer.
A message from Pele's official Twitter account read: "Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pelé, who peacefully passed away today. Love, love and love, forever."
Pele, who is Brazil's joint all-time top scorer with 77 goals in 92 matches, became an icon of the game after winning the World Cup in 1958 as a 17-year-old, netting twice in the final to defeat hosts Sweden.
Injury restricted his contribution to Brazil's triumph in 1962 in Chile but he was player of the tournament eight years later, as Brazil assembled one of the greatest sides of all time and lifted the Jules Rimet trophy in Mexico thanks to a 4-1 win over Italy in which Pele scored the opening goal.
That goal makes him one of only five players to have scored in two World Cup finals and, thanks to his exploits in 1958, he remains the youngest player to have netted a goal at the tournament.
In total, Pele scored 12 goals in 14 World Cup appearances and also provided 10 assists - the most by any player in the history of the competition, and a reminder that he was much more than a goal scorer.`
Pele, who scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games for club and country during his career, ended his playing days at New York Cosmos and retired from football in 1977.
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