Brazil football legend Pelé, who is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, died on Thursday at the age of 82.

The former striker breathed his last at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo after a long battle with cancer and is the only player in football history to clinch three World Cups.

Pelé became a football icon after he won the World Cup in 1958 when he was only 17 years old, hitting the back of the net twice in the final to thrash Sweden, who were the hosts then.

Pelé, who was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, to a struggling family in the town of Sao Paulo, Brazil, clinched the coveted World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups while playing for Brazil.

Before his death, he was Brazil's joint top scorer of all time with a record of 77 goals scored in a total of 92 matches.

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He scored a total of 12 goals in his appearances in 14 World Cups while also providing 10 assists making him the player with the most in the history of the soccer competition.

His fabled abilities made him a legend at his hometown Santos club assisting it to bag six Brazilian league crowns and two Copa Libertadores titles during his illustrious 18-year stint.

Pelé scored a total of 1,281 goals in 1,363 games for Santos and Brazil during his illustrious career before retiring from football in 1977 after a short stint with the New York Cosmos.

In 1999, Pelé was named the Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and was included in the Time list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century.

In the year 2000, he was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century. 

While in retirement, Pele was a football ambassador was awarded the FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur in 2013 in honor of his career and achievements in the popular sport.

He was later in 2020 named in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team, a greatest of all-time XI and his death closes the curtains on the life of one of the finest and most talented players that has ever lived.