Pele

Pele is the ubiquitous nickname of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the Brazilian footballer widely considered the greatest to ever lace up a pair of cleats. He is best known for his long stay with the club team Santos (which lasted almost twenty years), as well as being the leading member of three different World Cup-winning Brazilian squads: those of 1958, 1962, and 1970. Over the course of his career, Pele scored 1,283 total goals, including 77 in 92 games with the Brazilian national team, including 12 in the World Cup matches. http://www.ifhof.com/hof/pele.asp

Pele, who is one of the few all-time greats to never have played for a European club, had his first performance on the world stage in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. At only 17, Pele scored six goals in just four games, helping his team to Brazil's first World Cup trophy.

As a 21-year-old in Chile in 1962, Pele's team repeated its feat from 1958, but Pele was injured in the first round. In one of his only games, he scored one goal and assisted in another against Mexico, but watched as his teammates led the charge to the trophy.

His final World Cup-winning effort came in 1970, playing on what is often viewed as the finest soccer team ever assembled. Pele scored four goals in the tournament, which was played in Mexico, and assisted in many others as Brazil waltzed its way to the championship, winning every game and averaging around three goals per game. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=32/index.html

Despite being the youngest of Brazil's players (indeed, the youngest in history at that time) in Sweden, where the event was held, Pele's impact in his first World Cup was unsurpassed. After missing some early games with injury, Pele scored six goals in four matches, the second highest total of the tournament. The only game in which he didn't score was the first-round matchup against the Soviet Union, during which he did bang a shot off of the post. His hat-trick in the semifinals brought Brazil back from a deficit to slip by France. His two goals in the 5-2 victory over Sweden in the final included one often considered one of the best in the history of the World Cup. The remaining goal came in the quarterfinal matchup against Wales, which was the only score of the contest.

Following the victory against Sweden in the final, Pele passed out and had to be revived by doctors. He was honored as the best young player of the tournament, and was to be the most important member of the Brazilian national team for most of the next 12 years.