PELE’S 1958 World Cup winner’s medal has been sold at auction in London for £200 000 – at least £60 000 more than its estimated price tag.The medal – won as a teenager at his first World Cup – was estimated to be worth between £70 000 and £140 000.
The three-time World Cup winner is selling all three of his winner’s medals at auction, along with more than 2 000 items of personal memorabilia.
His winning medal from the 1962 World Cup in Chile was sold for £140 800.
The memorabilia, which include shirts and trophies, are being sold over three days and his winner’s medal from the 1970 World Cup, where he was part of the Brazilian team regarded as one of the greatest in history, has yet to go under the hammer.
A one-off Jules Rimet trophy made for the former striker after Brazil’s triumph in Mexico in 1970 is the most expensive item being auctioned, with an estimated price tag of £281 000 to £420 000.
On the first day of auction, the boots worn by Pele in the classic football film Escape to Victory sold for £8 025.
Other items sold include L’Equipe athlete-of-the-century trophy with book (£20 480), his 2007 FIFA presidential award (£30 720) and a 1000th goal tribute crown with book (£162 500).
Pele is the only player to have won the World Cup three times and is regarded by many as being the greatest footballer in history, scoring 1 281 goals in 1 363 matches and appearing 91 times for Brazil.