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Maybe not in importance but in complete domination of their sport setting records that still have yet to be broken.
RIP to the king of the game. Legend. >

He's arguably one of the primary reasons why soccer became the most popular sport in the world. RIP >

Retired ~50 years ago and remained a household name. >

Seriously though! As someone who doesn't follow sports all that much, it wasn't until a few years ago that I realized Pelé was an older man and not some present day sports superstar given how common it was to hear his name mentioned whenever soccer/football came up. >

I am just now learning that Pele is not a 35 year old man.  I don't know shit about fuck when it comes to soccer, but I knew the name Pele. >

Having learned about him growing up but not watching soccer I thought he played with guys like Beckham. He's to soccer what Wilt and Babe Ruth are to basketball and baseball. >

I'm not a soccer fan, but I get the impression that Pelé is far more important to soccer than Wilt Chamberlain is to basketball or Babe Ruth is to baseball. I'm not sure American sports has an equivalent to Pelé.