“For me Pele remains the greatest of all time and I was proud to be on the the pitch with him,” Sir Geoff Hurst, former World Cup player for England, wrote.
“A man with a strong legacy that will be remembered FOREVER,” Nigerian recording artist Burna Boy said.
On Instagram, French soccer player Kylian Mbappe wrote, “The king of football has left us but his legacy will never be forgotten.”
Former English soccer player Gary Lineker described Pele as “the most divine of footballers and joyous of men.”
Brazil’s government hailed him as the “champion of champions” and said that he will be remembered by generations as a “gentleman off the field, and a magician on it.”
A video shared by Italian sports journalist Fabrizio Romano showed Pelé and Argentinian soccer legend Diego Maradona head a soccer ball in front of a live television audience.
Former German soccer star Franz Beckenbauer, who was Pele’s teammate on the New York Cosmos in the 1970s, wrote, “Football lost the greatest in its history today – and I lost a unique friend.”
