Pelé, the Brazilian soccer star who gave the American branch of the sport a jumpstart in the 1970s, has died at the age of 82. He had been undergoing treatment for colon cancer since 2021 and had more recently entered hospice care.

Beginning when he was just 17-years-old in 1958, he led Brazil to three World Cup titles. Playing for the Brazilian club Santos, he scored 1,091 goals and lead them to 21 titles. He remains thought of as the greatest soccer player of all time.

When he joined the New York Cosmos on June 10, 1975, he signed a three-year $2.8 million contract, making him the highest paid athlete in the world at the time, according to ESPN. Ten million Ten million people tuned in the broadcast of his debut match, and average attendance for league games doubled during the three years he played in the U.S.