Edson Arantes do Nascimento popularly known as World Pele turns 77 today.

Born on Wednesday 23 October 1940, Pele is known worldwide as the greatest footballer of all time.

He is a retired Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward.

In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

He has scored a total of 1281 goals in 1363 games in his career.

During his playing days, Pelé was a one-time best-paid athlete in the world.

Pelé began his football career at Santos at age 15 and was called to the Brazil national football team at 16 due to his amazing performances.

During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and still holds the record of being the only player ever to do so. Pelé is the all-time leading goal scorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 92 games.

At club level, he is also the record goal scorer for Santos and led them to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores.

In 2010, he was named the Honorary President of the New York Cosmos.