Trump Recalls Seeing Pelé Play for New York Cosmos During 2026 World Cup Draw
On December 5, 2025, during the FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage draw held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., U.S. President Donald Trump shared a personal anecdote about Brazilian soccer legend Pelé (who passed away in 2022).
Speaking on stage alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump reminisced about his early exposure to soccer: “I remember watching Pelé play on a team called the Cosmos… He scored a few goals that day and I thought ‘that man can play’.”
Trump was referring to Pelé’s stint with the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1977. At the time, Trump was in his late 20s and early 30s (born in 1946), not a child—Pelé had retired from international and most club soccer by the early 1970s, and his Cosmos years were a high-profile effort to popularize the sport in the U.S.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1049x296:1051x298)/1-pele-young-1958-48c40361f01b4ff487b144e6599cd4a6.jpg "World Cup 2026, Trump: &Quot;As A Child I Saw Pelè Play And Score Three Goals, He Was One Of The Best&Quot; 2")
Pelé did score hat-tricks (three goals in a single match) multiple times during his career, including with the Cosmos (e.g., against the Toronto Metros-Croatia in 1976), so Trump’s memory of seeing him “score a few goals” aligns with real events, even if the “as a child” part appears to be a slight exaggeration or loose recollection.
Trump has long expressed admiration for Pelé, having met him in the past and previously calling him one of the greatest ever.
The comment came during a high-profile event where Trump also received the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize and helped place the host nations in their groups. The 2026 World Cup (June 11–July 19) will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada,, and Mexico, marking a major moment for soccer in North America—the same region Pelé helped boost decades ago with the Cosmos. Trump praised Pelé as “one of the greats,” tying his personal memory to excitement for the upcoming tournament.