Brazilian soccer legend Pelé has died, aged 82.

The three-time World Cup winner’s death was confirmed by his manager just before 6am this morning.

He had been fighting colon cancer since last year – having a tumor removed in September 2021, and being in and out of hospital ever since. 

Pelé saw a magnificent career spanning 21 years, scoring over 1,200 goals across official and unofficial matches. 

For a time, he was the highest paid athlete in the world.

Pelé’s influence was so special that in 1967, in the midst of Nigeria’s civil war, both sides stopped for a two-day truce to watch Pelé play. 

He’s regarded by many as the greatest football player in history, and he’ll be missed by fans all over the world.

One of his former teammates, another great footballer, Joseph ‘Joey’ Fink, said he was a very magnanimous, energetic man.

“He was very charismatic,” he said.

“We were minor league at that point, you could basically count the number of people who would come to games … we were struggling to get any kind of growth going with soccer.

“We heard rumours in 1975 that Pelé was going to come.”

He said he arrived to much fanfare, and the impact was “colossal”.

“His whole being, you could tell he was someone special.”

He described him as helpful, down-to-earth.

Press PLAY below to hear his tribute

Photo: Getty / Franck Fife