Law sets Nov. 19 as King Pelé Day in Brazil

As of this Tuesday (Jun. 2), Brazilian football has an official date to celebrate Edson Arantes do Nascimento—known as Pelé—who is considered to be the greatest football player of all time.

The law establishing King Pelé Day sets November 19 as the date to pay tribute to the most famous number 10 shirt in the history of world football. Brazil’s biggest football star died in December 2022. On this day in 1969, Pelé scored his thousandth goal, a penalty kick, during a match between his team Santos and Vasco da Gama at Rio’s Maracanã stadium.

A historical moment

It was Wednesday night and over 65 thousand people were at the stadium. For the historic moment, a whole scheme was set up by the TV stations to cover the King of Football’s thousandth goal. A security plan was specially put in place to prevent an invasion of the pitch. Pelé’s thousandth goal and Santos’s second in the match came exactly 34 minutes and 12 seconds into the second half.