"The goal against Wales changed my career"
By Pele
In an exclusive interview with BT Vision, legendary footballer Pelé describes his favourite ever World Cup goal. You can see the goal in Pelé: World Cup Hero On Demand on BT Vision now.
"It’s almost impossible to choose one goal over any other in the World Cup. Every single one was special to me but I guess it comes down to three different goals and they all mean something different.
"The two that run my favourite the closest are the goals I scored in the 1958 and 1970 World Cup finals. For beauty, the header I scored against Italy in 1970 was one I will never forget. I jumped high above the defender and put a powerful header into the corner. It was a simple goal but because it was the first goal in that final and such an important one, I will always think it was beautiful.
"The other is my first goal against Sweden in the 1958 final. I turned in the box and lifted the ball over the defender’s head, and then hit a half volley past the keeper. It was very spectacular and it helped us to win our first World Cup, so that goal means so much.
“But my favourite goal in the World Cup finals is a goal I choose for emotional reasons. It was a goal that set me on the road to becoming the player I was. It is my first ever World Cup goal, which was against Wales in the 1958 quarter-final.
“It was my first match of the tournament and I was only 17 years old. The manager had shown some faith in me and I wanted to show him it was not a mistake. There was some pressure. It was not an easy match either. The Wales team in that tournament was very good and very strong. I remember it being a close match that could have gone against us.
“Then, in the second half I scored the goal that decided the match. I got the ball knocked towards me in the penalty area and I had my back to goal with a Wales defender right on me. The ball dropped onto my chest and then I acted on instinct when it fell towards my foot by flicking the ball over the defender’s leg while turning in one movement. That trick opened up the goal and then I took an early shot past the keeper and the ball went into the corner.
“I think my celebration of that goal was one of my most excitable. I jumped up and down a few times and then went to collect the ball from the net. My team-mates jumped on me inside the goal. I was smiling and felt so elated. It was very emotional – in my first game in the World Cup I’d got the winner, so you can imagine how happy I felt.
“It was the goal that opened the door for me with the Brazil team. Before that I hadn’t been involved in the World Cup but from that goal onwards I played all the time, and scored three in the semi-final and two in the final. Without that goal maybe those other moments wouldn’t have happened.
“For these reasons there is no doubt that the goal against Wales was the most important for my career and the one that I look back on with the most feeling and the most emotion. If I hadn’t scored it, my competition and even my career might have been very different.
“I like all my World Cup goals, but the first of all is the one which makes me smile the most when I look back.”
What happened next?
Brazil beat Wales 1-0 in the 1958 World Cup quarter-final and went on to win the final 5-2 against the hosts Sweden. Pelé was part of the Brazil squads that won the World Cup in 1962 and 1970.