In what year did Pelé score his 1,000th goal?

Pelé scored his 1,000th goal in 1969. The celebrated goal came on 19 November 1969, when he converted a penalty for Santos against Vasco da Gama at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã Stadium.

The milestone was known in Brazil as O Milésimo, meaning “The Thousandth.” It had become a national event, and the match stopped for celebrations after Pelé scored. He dedicated the achievement to children, poor people and older people who were blind, adding a humanitarian message to the sporting occasion.

The exact total of Pelé’s career goals remains debated because different statisticians count official matches, friendlies and exhibition games differently. Some researchers have also questioned the order of individual goals. Those disputes explain why career totals vary, but they do not change the conventional answer to this quiz question: the famous 1,000th-goal occasion took place in 1969.