How Many Goals Did Pele Score?

How Many Goals Did Pele Score in His Career?

Pele will always be seen as one of the greatest footballers of all-time, but the number of goals that he scored in his career will forever be controversial. Pele himself has claimed that during his career he put the ball in the back of the net 1,283 times, which included his famous 1000th ‘O Milesimo’ goal against Vasco de Gama in 1969.

However, due to the era that he played in and the lack of stats that were calculated in those days, it is a controversial topic as to how many goals he did actually score.

⚽️👑👋#OnThisDay in 1977, football said goodbye to its King.@Pele played the final match of his incomparable career for @NYCosmos against @SantosFC 🇺🇸🤝🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/OOSigy3oQh

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) October 1, 2019

So How Many Goals Did Pele Score in His Incredible Career?

In more recent times, football historians have gone back and looked at how many ‘official’ goals that Pele scored during his time in the game. It would seem that in these circumstances Pele in fact only scored 757 career goals which includes 77 goals for the Brazil national team and the rest during his time at both Santos FC and New York Cosmos.

So Why Did Pele Claim That He Scored 1,283 Goals?

During his time at Santos FC, Pele played hundreds of games against semi-professional and amateur teams often as friendlies or as parts of tours that the club went on. Therefore, these games do not count as professional football games and that is where the debate as to whether the goals are valid or not begins.

Many argue that as these goals were not against professional opposition then they should not be counted as part of the goal tally. This would seem the more reasonable side of the argument as many footballers could play against semi-professional or amateur teams and score hundreds of goals with no problem.

On the other side of the argument, some feel that these goals, especially the ones scored in friendly matches, should count towards the overall tally. This is because back in the era that Pele played in friendly matches were taken a lot more seriously especially on the international stage. To further back this argument up, the number of matches that were played in those days is minute compared to the amount that are played nowadays with all the new competitions being created year on year.

As it seems such a hard argument to settle, it is understandable that the majority of people agree with the 757 number as they can guarantee that these goals were scored in professional games and have a record of these games.

Does This Tarnish His Legacy?

No matter which side of the debate that you sit on, no one can argue that regardless of the number of goals he scored Pele is still one of the greatest to ever play the game. You can see this just from the fact that he won three World Cups during his career and he was a vital part in each of these campaigns.

🧢 91 caps
⚽️ 77 goals
🏆 3 #WorldCup titles

🔙 50 years ago today an emotional @Pele made his last Brazil appearance in a friendly against Yugoslavia. Has there ever been a better international career?@CBF_Futebol | #OnThisDay pic.twitter.com/mbOblxDGkx

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 18, 2021

Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, and Cristiano Ronaldo are often the names in similar conversations with Pele as to who is the greatest player of all time. Everyone has their different opinions which is what makes the game so entertaining as different people enjoy different things within it whether that be incredible skill or world class finishing for example.

The impact that each of these players have had on the sport is phenomenal in terms of what they achieved in their careers and the influence that they have had on fans and other players.