Brazilian soccer star Pelé has died after a lengthy battle with cancer at age 82, the New York Times reports. Widely credited for sparking an interest in soccer in the United States in the 1970s after coming out of retirement to play for the New York Cosmos of the the North American Soccer League, Edson Arantes do Nascimento was a superstar in the sport, dubbed the greatest soccer player of all time by FIFA in a 2012 survey.
In a 21-year career from 1956 to 1977 during which he played for just two professional clubs–Santos in Brazil and the New York Cosmos–Pelé scored 1,283 goals in 1,367 professional matches. As a member of the Brazilian national team he scored 77 goals in 92 international matches, having started to play for the national team at age 16. He’s the only player to have played on three FIFA World Cup championship teams, in 1958, 1962 and 1970.