Football emperor Pele, who passed away on December 30 last year at the age of 82, is considered one of the best football players in history.
Superstars such as Lionel Messi, Mbafe, and Ronaldo, who are the best in the world, mourned the death of Pele with one voice.
So how great was Pele?
Pele's achievements are too many to count.
So let's focus on Pele's World Cup performance.
From his first appearance in the World Cup, Pele has set many records, including the youngest goal scorer, youngest hat-trick, and youngest championship title.
And in all, they participated in the World Cup 4 times and won 3 times.
He remains to this day the only player to have won the World Cup three times.
It is highly likely that this record will remain as an 'immortal record'.
17-year-old Pele's most spectacular World Cup debut in history
Pele's World Cup debut was in Sweden in 1958.
Born in 1940, Pele was only 17 at the time.
Pelé scored on his World Cup debut against Wales in the quarterfinals, leading Brazil to a 1–0 victory.
He scored a goal at the age of 17 years and 239 days, making him the youngest ever goalscorer in a World Cup.
This record is 65 years old and still stands.
In the semi-final against France, he scored a hat-trick, making him also the youngest (17 years, 244 days) in this category.
At the time, France had legendary striker Just Fontaine.
Fontaine finished as the top scorer in the tournament with 13 goals (the record for most goals in a World Cup tournament).
The 13 goals is the record for the most goals scored in a World Cup tournament, which has not been broken to this day.
However, Brazil defeated France 5-2 thanks to Pele's hat-trick.
In the final against the home team Sweden, Pele was the 'youngest' record from the start at 17 years and 249 days, and also swept the record of 'youngest win' by setting the 'youngest scorer record in a World Cup final' with multiple goals.
Brazil beat Sweden 5-2 to claim their first ever World Cup title.
Pele made the most spectacular World Cup debut in his history with a total of 6 goals in this competition.
Pele's goals made it hard to believe he was 17 years old.
He was laid-back and poised, almost playing tricks on his opponents.
Still, right after winning the championship, he was hugged by his seniors from the Brazilian team and shed tears of emotion.
Pele's injury out...Still, Brazil achieves two consecutive World Cup victories
Four years later at the 1962 World Cup in Chile, Pele started off fresh by scoring a goal in the first group match against Mexico.
After he broke through four of his opponents, he scored a spectacular goal.
However, he suffered an injury in the second match against the Czech Republic and missed the rest of the match.
Even in the absence of Pele, Brazil was strong enough.
With the performances of Garrincha, Bava, and Amarildo, they won the championship.
It was the second consecutive World Cup victory.
The 1966 World Cup in England was a nightmare for Pele and Brazil.
At the 1966 World Cup in England, Brazil were placed in the group stage with Bulgaria, Hungary and Portugal.
In the first leg against Bulgaria, Pele scored the opening goal in a 2-0 win.
However, Brazil were caught 3-1 in the second leg against Hungary.
And in the third match against Portugal, they lost 3-1 and tasted the shock of being eliminated from the group stage.
At that time, Portugal was enduring Eusebio, a legendary striker called the Black Panther.
Portugal won a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over North Korea in the quarterfinals of the tournament, and it was a reverse electrode in which they scored 3 goals first in the first half and then scored 5 goals.
Eusebio scored a whopping 4 goals in this match.
In the end, Portugal finished third in the event, still Portugal's best ever result.
It was a nightmare for Pele as well as for Brazil.
Pelé suffered heavy tackles from his opponents throughout the tournament.
He was also injured in a violent tackle against Portugal.
Pele's injury caused controversy over player protection, and eventually, from the next tournament, the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, the substitution system and the red and yellow card system were introduced.
Pele, who led the greatest team in history
The Brazilian national team, which competed in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, is still considered one of the best teams in history.
The performance of the 4 musketeers – Pele, Geiljinyo, Rivelino, and Tostao – was dazzling.
In this tournament, Brazil won all six matches from the group stage to the final.
It was a perfect victory in a 6-game winning streak.
Brazil were in the group stage with the Czech Republic, England and Romania.
They got off to a good start with a 4-1 win over the Czech Republic in the first leg.
In the 11th minute of the first half, the Czech Republic scored the first goal, but after that, they scored 4 goals and won the game from behind.
Pele scored a come-from-behind goal in the 14th minute of the second half.
Brazil beat 'defending champions' England 1-0 in the second leg, and it was a spectacular match.
In the 14th minute of the second half, Pelé assisted Jiljinho to score the winning goal.
In the first half of the match, Pelé received a cross from Geilzinho and headed in a picturesque header, which was saved by a picturesque save by English goalkeeper Gordon Banks.
This is one of the best saves in World Cup history.
Brazil also beat Romania 3-2 in the third leg.
Pele scored two goals in this match, including a picturesque free kick goal.
The free-kick was kicked precisely into the narrow gap where his teammate crouched down in between the opposing defensive walls, creating a sense of exclamation.
After three wins in the group stage, Brazil advanced to the quarterfinals as top of the group.
At that time, 16 countries participated in the World Cup, so if you passed the group stage, you were straight to the quarterfinals.
Brazil beat Peru 4-2 in the quarterfinals, where legendary striker Cubillas played.
And we met Uruguay in the semifinals.
At that time, the match against Uruguay was a very meaningful revenge match for Brazil.
It is because I have a painful memory of a shocking 2-1 come-from-behind defeat to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final held in my country 20 years ago.
It was a match called the 'Tragedy of Maracana'.
At that time, as many as 200,000 spectators gathered at the Maracanã Stadium to hope for Brazil to win, but they suffered a shocking defeat.
There were even Brazilian soccer fans who made extreme choices out of indescribable disappointment.
So, when I met Uruguay in the semifinals of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, I was eager to take revenge, but this time, in the 19th minute of the first half, Uruguay scored the opening goal and a nightmare came to my mind.
But this time it was different.
Brazil then scored 3 goals to avenge themselves with a 3-1 come-from-behind victory.