It’s perhaps the most enduring image of the World Cup, and so it is fitting that Edson Arantes do Nascimento — better known as Pelé, perhaps the one player best associated with the competition — was at the heart of it.
In the final against Italy in Mexico City, Pelé, playing in his third World Cup final, leaped to meet a long cross from Rivelino, and seemed to hang infront of goal before powerfully heading home at the far post.
It was the Seleção’s 100th World Cup goal, and opened the scoring in what would ultimately be a 4-1 rout of Italy.
The No. 10, widely considered the best player ever to grace the game, spun around in blind joy before jumping in the air and getting enveloped in a bear hug by Jairzinho.
High off the ground, he pumps his fist three times in the air, grinning broadly, before being mobbed by teammates as he set his Brazil team — also generally thought one of the best units to have graced the competition — on their way to a third Jules Rimet trophy, with second-half goals from Gerson, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto.
Pelé’s legacy was secured.