Against which team did Pelé nearly score from the halfway line at the 1970 World Cup?

Pelé nearly scored from the halfway line against Czechoslovakia at the 1970 World Cup. In Brazil’s opening match, he noticed goalkeeper Ivo Viktor well away from his goal and attempted an audacious lob from around the centre line.

The effort narrowly missed the target, but it became one of the tournament’s defining examples of Pelé’s vision and confidence. It was not a conventional long-range shot: Pelé struck the ball deliberately over Viktor, judging that the goalkeeper’s advanced position created a rare opening. The ball drifted just wide rather than dropping into the net.

Brazil still won the match 4–1 in Guadalajara. Pelé scored Brazil’s second goal after controlling a long pass from Gérson with his chest, while Jairzinho scored twice. The result established Brazil’s attacking authority at the start of a tournament they would win.

The play is sometimes confused with Pelé’s famous non-scoring feint against Uruguay’s Ladislao Mazurkiewicz in the semi-final. That later incident involved Pelé running around the goalkeeper without touching the ball; the halfway-line attempt was against Czechoslovakia and goalkeeper Viktor.