Pele remains the marker to whom modern greats such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are compared.
The Brazilian legend is one of football’s most iconic figures and his death at the age of 82 brings the curtain down on a life and career that entertained and inspired in equal measure.
The forward, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Tres Coracoes in 1940, was just 15 years old when he made his Santos debut in 1956, winning his first Brazil cap the following year.
It was at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden that Pele first commanded international attention, though.
Brazil were yet to lift the Jules Rimet trophy when Pele first burst onto the scene, but the teenager helped kick-start a period of success for the South American nation with a series of scintil…