The name Pelé is synonymous with the sport of soccer—even if you’ve never watched a game in your life.
The sport’s first true global icon, Pelé not only put Brazil firmly on the footballing map but also helped propel the game toward becoming the global obsession it is today.
Exploding onto the scene as a 17-year-old at the 1958 World Cup, Pelé dazzled the world—scoring a hat-trick in the semifinal and a brace in the final as Brazil lifted their first-ever World Cup trophy.
That triumph kickstarted an era of dominance for both Brazil and Pelé. He would go on to win two more World Cups in 1962 and 1970, the heartbeat of what many still hail as the greatest national team of all time. Millions around the world tuned in, mesmerized by his samba-infused skills—flair and imagination the sport had never seen before.
Pelé’s brilliance extended to his club career with Santos, where he scored nearly 650 goals and collected a cabinet full of trophies. Keen to showcase their prized asset, Santos toured the globe like football’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters, giving fans from every corner of the world a glimpse of their superstar.
With such unparalleled success and fame, you’d expect Pelé to have been showered with world football’s most prestigious individual honor: the Ballon d’Or.
But was he? Let’s take a closer look.
Did Pele Ever Win the Ballon d'Or?
No—despite his legendary status, Pelé never won the Ballon d’Or.
Why not? At the time, the award was restricted. When it was first introduced in 1956, the Ballon d’Or was officially known as the European Footballer of the Year, meaning only players from Europe were eligible.
That rule changed in 1995, when non-European players who played for European clubs became eligible. Finally, in 2007, the Ballon d’Or became a truly global prize, open to any professional footballer, regardless of nationality or club.
During Pelé’s career, he was simply ineligible. Playing almost exclusively for Santos in Brazil, he wasn’t even considered—no matter how dominant he was on the world stage.
How Many Times Could Pelé Have Won the Ballon d'Or?
This one’s difficult to gauge—but France Football themselves gave us a pretty good idea in 2016.
To mark the 60th anniversary of the Ballon d’Or, the magazine published an internationalized re-evaluation of the award’s history—called Le nouveau palmarès—revisiting the years prior to 1995, when only European players were eligible.
In this revised list, Pelé was retroactively handed the Ballon d’Or an astonishing seven times: in 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, and 1970, replacing respective winners Raymond Kopa, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Luis Suárez, Omar Sívori, Lev Yashin, Denis Law, and Gerd Müller.
Of course, these awards don’t officially count—Pelé’s name remains absent from the Ballon d’Or’s official roll of honor. Still, the recognition serves as a symbolic acknowledgement of just how far ahead of his peers he was at the time.
READ MORE ON THE RECENT HISTORY OF THE BALLON D’OR
This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Many Times Did Pele Win the Ballon d'Or?.