On this day 50 years ago, Pele scored his 1,000th career goal at the age of 29| All Football (2024)

The revered Brazil striker Pele scored his 1,000th goal on November 19, 1969, at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium in a match between his beloved Santos and local outfit Vasco de Gama, whose vast ranks of fans gave the iconic No. 10 a standing ovation.

Pele, a national hero after helping Brazil to two World Cup wins in 1958 and 1962, was still just 29 years old when he broke the 1,000-goal barrier.

International football research web site RSSSF (Rec. Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation) put Pele's total at 767 in 831 official matches. That puts him only third in the all-time list.

Czech striker Josef Bican stands top with 805 goals in 530 games in a career interrupted by World War II. Romario, who helped Brazil to the 1994 World Cup, is second on 772 goals from 994.

Breathing down Pele's neck are current stars Cristiano Ronaldo on 724 from 1,018 games and Lionel Messi on 708 from 890.