A giant statue of Brazilian footballer Pelé has been installed outside a stadium in Mexico ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a tribute to the iconic player.
The nine-meter-high bronze statue of the former Brazilian sports minister was installed outside the Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara. Workers placed it outside the stadium using a crane.
Several spectators gathered to watch as stadium staff lifted and placed the sculpture, created by Mexican artist Alejandro Velazo.
The monument depicts Pelé celebrating after Brazil won the FIFA World Cup in 1970.
Estadio Jalisco will not host any 2026 FIFA World Cup matches. Instead, the four World Cup matches assigned to the Guadalajara metropolitan area will take place at the newly built Akron Stadium.
However, the facility, officially known as La Carinha, is part of Guadalajara’s city-wide cultural celebration of the global sporting event.
Pelé wore the yellow shirt in 92 international matches and scored 77 goals, with an incredible average of 0.84 goals per game.
For context, many world-class forwards aim for a ratio of 0.5 to 0.7 goals per game. At club level, Pelé is Santos’ all-time top scorer with 643 goals in 659 games.
The legendary player led his team to victory in the 1970 FIFA World Cup.
