Crowds continue to flock to Pele’s wake long into the evening as thousands pay their respects

Flocks of fans continue to flock into into the Vila Belmiro, home to Pele’s longtime club Santos, long into the evening to pay their respects to the football legend.

World-renowned footballer, Pele, whose full name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, aged 82, passed away on December 29 after a long battle with colon cancer. 

His casket, which was placed under an awning and surrounded by bouquets of white flowers, will remain there for 24 hours. The cofin bearing the body of ‘The King’ was first displayed at the centre circle this morning. 

Since, thousands of fans have queued and waited in line to pay their respects – even into the late hours of the evening.

Once the mourning visitation time has passed, he will be burried at the Memorial Necropole Ecumenica, a vertical cemetery in Santos, only in presence of family on Tuesday.

Hundreds of fans visited the Vila Belmiro, home to Pele’s longtime club Santos, where the open casket bearing the body of ‘The King’ was displayed

Fans continued to visit at the stadium in the later hours to say goodbye to Edson Arantes do Nascimento, globally known as Pele

Pictured: General view at the stadium as dusk falls in Vila Belmiro as mourners queue to pay their respect during his funeral tribute

The football world will join the whole of Brazil to pay their respects to Pele at a funeral ceremony for the legendary forward in Sao Paulo today

Pictured: Posters with the number 10 of Pele are displayed in the stands

The casket arrived before the doors were opened to the public, with Pele’s son Edinho acting as one of the pallbearers. Funeral workers draped a veil over him and Edinho was pictured resting his hand on his father’s forehead and saying a prayer in the moments before the wake began.

Pele’s widow Marcia Aoki was pictured placing a cross pendant on her husband’s body, and she was later seen embracing Edinho.

Edinho was previously jailed for 33 years for laundering money from drug trafficking before his sentence was reduced to 12 years and 10 months on appeal. 

Fans started arriving at the stadium in the early hours to say goodbye to Edson Arantes do Nascimento, globally known as Pele. One of them was Brazilian supreme court justice Gilmar Mendes.

Among its visitors was a man who struck a spooky resemblance to the legendary player. The mourner was pictured walking across the football pitch in a Santos football jersey, a team Pele played for from 1956 to 1974. 

‘It is a very sad moment, but we are now seeing the real meaning of this legendary player to our country,’ Mr Mendes told journalists. 

‘My office has shirts signed by Pele, a picture of him as a goalkeeper, also signed by him, DVDs, photos, a big collection of him.

A large black and white banner with an image of Pele was hung inside the stadium

Pictured: Mourners queue inside Vila Belmiro stadium to pay their respects to late football legend

 Fans carrying a banner reading ‘the king of football’ enter the stadium to pay tribute to Pele

The casket, which was placed under an awning and surrounded by bouquets of white flowers, will remain there for 24 hours

A crown and the lofo of Brazilian team Santos are projected on a screen at the Urbano Caldeira stadium

The coffin of Pele’s body is covered with flags of team Santos and Brazil during his funeral

Supporters waved their banners and flags to show their gratitude to the beloved football player

Carlos Mota and his 12-year-old son Bernardo traveled more than 300 miles from Rio de Janeiro to Santos, a south-eastern port city in Sao Paulo state, to pay tribute to their late hero.

‘My whole childhood was influenced by what Pele did for Brazil, by his World Cup wins. He was a national idol,’ Mota, 59, told AFP.  

Bernardo added: ‘I never saw Pele play, but I’ve seen the videos. He’s the greatest player who ever walked the Earth.’ 

The open casket of Brazilian football legend Pele at Vila Belmiro, home to his longtime club Santos, today

 Pele’s widow Marcia Aoki places a cross pendant on her late husband’s body during the 24-hour wake

The mourner who has been dubbed Pele’s lookalike was pictured walking across the football pitch in a Santos football jersey

Pele’s son Edinho (centre), who was one of the casket’s pallbearers, rests his hand on his father’s forehead and says a prayer

Ms Aoki and Edinho are pictured in a tearful embrace as they say farewell to the football legend

The daughter of Brazilian football legend Pele, Kelly Cristina (left), attends his father’s wake at the Urbano Caldeira stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 2

Pictured: A view of mourners outside Brazilian soccer legend Pele’s former club Santos’ Vila Belmiro stadium, as he lies in state in the centre circle

Pictured: Hundreds of mourners queue to pay their respects to Brazilian soccer legend Pele, as his body lies in state on the pitch of his former club Santos’ Vila Belmiro stadium

Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Alejandro Dominguez, head of the South American football confederation Conmebol, were among the first to pay their respects at the open casket.

Pele scored scored some of the best goals of his career at the oceanside stadium outside Sao Paulo nicknamed ‘Peixe’ – ‘fish’ in Portuguese. It is expecting a huge influx of fans hoping to honour Pele, who died aged 82 on Thursday after a long battle with cancer.

Stadium doors opened at 10:00 am local time (1300 GMT). The coffin bearing the remains of the only player to have won three World Cups is being displayed in the centre of the field on a temporary platform.

Known as Vila Belmiro after the neighbourhood where it is located, the black and white Urbano Caldeira Stadium has a capacity of 16,000 people.

A white veil is draped over Pele’s body, which is seen adorned with flowers and surrounded by white bouquets

Pallbearers carry Pele’s casket to the centre circle of his former club Santos’ Vila Belmiro stadium where he will lie in state before his funeral

Surrounded by flowers, former football player Serginho Chulapa kisses Pele’s head at the stadium in Sao Paulo

Pallbearers, including Pele’s son Edinho, carry Pele’s casket to the centre circle where fans waited to pay their respects

Funeral workers uncover the casket before opening the doors of the Urbano Caldeira Stadium, which has a capacity of 16,000 people

Former Santos player Manoel Maria (left) hugs the son of Brazilian football star Pele, Edinho (right), during Pele’s wake at the Urbano Caldeira stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 2

Pictured: Neymar Santos Sr. – father of Brazil star Neymar Jr. – attends Pele’s Memorial Service in Santos, Brazil

Pictured: The coffin with the remains of Brazilian soccer great Pele lies on display on the pitch of the Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos, Brazil, Monday, January 2

A mourners reacts as he pays respect to Brazilian soccer legend Pele, who’s body lies in state on the pitch of his former club Santos’ Vila Belmiro stadium

In the stands, three giant flags could be seen yesterday, one with an image of Pele displaying the famous number ten on his jersey.

Another bore the message, ‘Long live the king’. The third said simply, ‘Pele 82 years.’

After the wake, a procession will be held through the streets of Santos, a port city about 47 miles from the state capital Sao Paulo.

The parade will pass the house of Pele’s mother, Celeste Arantes, 100, who is unaware that her world-famous son has died. ‘She doesn’t know,’ Pele’s sister Maria Lucia do Nascimento told ESPN on Friday. ‘She is not conscious.’

The procession will end at a cemetery in Santos, where Pele will be interred in a special mausoleum. 

Thousands of Brazilians line up to bid a final farewell to football giant Pele today ahead of a 24-hour public wake at the stadium of his long-time team, Santos

Mourners queue to pay their respect to Brazilian football legend Pele, as his body lies in state on the pitch of his former club Santos’ Vila Belmiro stadium

Police work in Urbano Caldeira Stadium before football legend Pele’s funeral which begins tomorrow

Pallbearers carry the casket of Pele, the only player to have won three World Cups, to the centre circle of his former club Santos’ Vila Belmiro stadium

Stadium doors opened at 10:00 am local time (1300 GMT) to allow the thousands of fans to pay their respects

Fans line up to see Pele’s casket with hundreds entering the stadium shortly after the doors opened this morning

A man holds a World Cup replica and wears a t-shirt with a picture of Pele on the front, while draped in a Brazilian flag, as he queues to enter the Santos stadium

Aerial view of the Urbano Caldeira Stadium ahead of football legend Pele’s funeral

The hearse carrying Pele’s casket arrives at Santos as a firework goes off in the early morning

Pele, the ‘King’ of football, died aged 82 on Thursday after a long battle with cancer

Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele is widely considered to have been the best player yet of the beautiful game. His death sparked a global outpouring of tributes, with his native Brazil holding three days of national mourning.

He scored 1,283 goals in a career of 21 years, most of them played at Santos.

Wreaths of flowers left by his fans have brought a splash of colour to Vila Belmiro, which houses a bust and a statue of the football great.

Silvio Neves Souza, an electrician on holiday from Sao Paulo, took a moment on Sunday to visit the stadium since he will not be able to attend the official ceremony.

‘I’m sure a lot of people will come to the wake, not just old people who saw him play, but also young people,’ the 54-year-old said.

Elsewhere in the city, banners with Pele’s face decorate another monument erected in his likeness. ‘I loved the world with the ball at my feet,’ read one sign.

At the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, a giant poster with Pele’s image bears the word ‘eternal.’

And at the inauguration of Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva yesterday, the ceremony began with a minute’s silence in Pele’s memory.

Military police in Sao Paulo state, where digital street screens also pay tribute to the prolific striker, said there would be a ‘robust’ deployment for the posthumous tributes.

Security will be strengthened at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo ahead of the expected arrival of throngs of athletes, politicians, dignitaries and fans for the wake.

Carrying flags and wearing football shirts, fans cheer as they line up to see Pele’s casket at the Vila Belmiro Stadium

Fans queue outside the Urbano Caldeira Stadium to see Pele, who scored 1,283 goals in a career of 21 years

Tributes inside Vila Belmiro, including several number tens as worn on Pele’s football jersey

Wreaths of flowers left by Pele’s fans – including one being carried inside – have brought a splash of colour to Vila Belmiro 

Giant flags could be seen inside the stadium yesterday, one with an image of Pele displaying the famous number ten on his jersey

Pele’s body arrived under fireworks in Santos – a city of about 430,000 people – in the early hours of Monday, from hospital.

On Tuesday, a procession carrying his coffin will pass through the streets of Santos, ending at the Ecumenical Memorial Necropolis cemetery, where he will be buried in a private ceremony.

Santos’ press office said some 5,000 journalists from all over the world had been accredited to cover the wake. People started gathering outside the stadium on Sunday, taking pictures next to a statue of Pele.

Street vendors were selling Santos and Brazil jerseys with his name. Inside the stadium, the structure for the wake was ready amid messages such as ‘Long live the King’ and ‘The only man to stop a war.’

Several authorities are expected to attend the memorial, including the newly sworn-in president, vice president Geraldo Alckmin – a longtime Santos supporter – and Fifa president Mr Infantino.

‘I’ll be here all day, 24 hours, from 10:00 am to 10:00 am,’ fan Roberto Santos said. ‘Pele deserves it’. 

Pele jerseys are seen available for sale outside Urbano Caldeira Stadium ahead of the football legend’s funeral

Football fans line up to see the late Brazilian football legend Pele at the Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos today

An elderly fan of Santos is seen looking through a window ahead of Pele’s wake

A child waits for the start of the wake for Brazilian football legend Pele with his name daubed on her cheek

Pele had been in the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo for a month until his death on December 29.

His sister recalled: ‘We were with him [days before he died]. It was very quiet, we talked a little, but I already sensed that he was feeling it, he already knew he was leaving.’

Born on October 23, 1940, Pele grew up selling peanuts on the street to help his impoverished family.

He got his famous nickname after mispronouncing Bile, the name of a goalkeeper at Vasco de Sao Lourenco, where his footballer father once played.

Pele exploded onto the scene at age 15, when he started playing professionally with Santos.

At just 17, he helped Brazil to its first World Cup championship, in 1958. That was followed by World Cup titles in 1962 and 1970. The latter marked the pinnacle of his career, as he starred on what many consider the greatest team of all time.

Pele had been in increasingly fragile health in recent years.

He remained active on social media, cheering on Brazil during the World Cup in Qatar and consoling the pre-tournament favourites when they were eliminated in the quarter-finals just three weeks before his death.