In which stadium was Pelé's wake held?

Pelé’s wake was held at Estádio Urbano Caldeira, the official name of Santos FC’s stadium commonly known as Vila Belmiro. The public wake began on 2 January 2023, shortly after Pelé died in São Paulo at age 82.

The stadium was a fitting location because it was the ground where Pelé became a football legend. He joined Santos as a teenager in 1956 and spent the most influential years of his club career there. The stadium’s association with him was so strong that many reports referred to the wake simply as taking place at Vila Belmiro.

The wake lasted 24 hours and was open to the public. Pelé’s coffin was placed on the field, allowing supporters to pass through and pay their respects. More than 230,000 people attended before the funeral procession left the stadium on 3 January. The body was then taken through Santos and buried at the Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica. The main mix-up is that Vila Belmiro is the familiar name, while Estádio Urbano Caldeira is the stadium’s formal name.