…230,000 mourners at lying in state

Six-decade global soccer icon, Pele, lay in-state for 24 hours in the centre of the pitch at the Santos Football Club’s Urbano Caldeira Stadium for the public to pay their respects.

Pele – a three-time World Cup winner – died at the age of 82 on 29 December in Brazil, his home nation.

Pele, arguably the world’s greatest ever footballer had been receiving treatment for colon cancer since 2021.

Covered with a Brazilian flag, Pele’s coffin was carried on a fire truck through a route packed with fans.

Thousands of fans gathered to see Pele’s coffin, which was placed on a fire truck and carried through the streets of Santos – as is the Brazilian tradition – while fans accompanied the cortege chanting “Pele, 1,000 goals”.

Hundreds of people waved huge banners and were wearing the number 10 shirt he made so famous.

The procession also passed by the house where his 100-year-old mother, Celeste Arantes, still lives.

Brazilians bid a final farewell this week to football giant Pele, starting Monday with a 24-hour public wake at the stadium of his long-time team, Santos. | Photo Credit: AFP

Emotional fans paid their respects to Pele throughout the procession. The city of Santos said goodbye to its hero, Pele, who played 656 competitive matches for the club.

Santos FC said more than 230,000 people had attended his 24-hour wake in the Vila Belmiro stadium, where a steady stream of mourners continued through the night.

The funeral cortege ended at the port city’s Memorial Cemetery, where a Catholic funeral service was held before Pele was interred in a 10-storey mausoleum that holds the Guinness World Record as the tallest cemetery on Earth.

This was a day of mourning for the man whom Brazilians call their King, but it was clearly a moment to celebrate him too.

The coffin of Pelé’s body is covered with flags of team Santos and Brazil during his funeral | Photo Credit: Getty Images

There was joy on the streets that Pele was – and will always be – Brazil’s biggest source of pride.

Deofilo de Freitas was first in the queue at the stadium on Monday, but wanted another chance to see his idol before he was laid to rest. He saw the procession on Tuesday to say his final goodbye.

“Pele was the Pele of the people, he joined all of us,” he said. “It’ll be hard to find someone else like him.

“In addition to being the best player in the world, he was a marvellous human being.”

Edinho, son of Pelé and former football player Ze Roberto carried Pele’s coffin into Urbano Caldeira Stadium for his funeral in Santos, Brazil | Photo Credit: People, headed by son, Edinho, transport Pele’s coffin into the stadium.

Santos FC, where Pele spent the majority of his club career, tweeted: “Our eternal King Pele says goodbye in Vila Belmiro, his home, with his people.”

Brazil’s government declared three days of national mourning after his death, and the country’s new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, travelled to Santos and attended Monday’s memorial to pay his respects.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino attended the memorial on Monday. Thousands of mourners from all around the world gathered in Santos.