SAO PAULO, Dec 29 - The three-time World Cup winner is regarded by many as the greatest player of all time.

Brazilian football legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, has died aged 82 in Sao Paulo.

Pele, the legendary Brazilian soccer player who rose from barefoot poverty to become one of the greatest and best-known athletes in modern history.

Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein hospital, where Pele was undergoing treatment, said he died at 3:27 p.m. "due to multiple organ failures resulting from the progression of colon cancer associated with his previous medical condition."

The death of the only man to win the World Cup three times as a player was confirmed on his Instagram account.

"Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pele, who peacefully passed away today," it read, adding he had "enchanted the world with his genius in sport, stopped a war, carried out social works all over the world and spread what he most believed to be the cure for all our problems: love."

Humble beginnings, Santos, and a teenage professional debut

Pele was born on October 23, 1940, in the town of Tres Coracoes, Minas Gerais, but he grew up in poverty in Bauru around 330km and four hours from Sao Paulo.

His family, headed by ex-Fluminense football player Dondinho and his wife Celeste Arantes, originally gave him the nickname “Dico”.

But the way he mispronounced the name of his favorite player – Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bile –later earned him the name Pele

In addition to a host of regional and national titles, Pele won two Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, and two Intercontinental Cups, the annual tournament held between the best teams in Europe and South America.

He took home three World Cup winner's medals, the first time as a 17-year-old in Sweden in 1958, the second in Chile four years later - even though he missed most of the tournament through injury - and the third in Mexico in 1970, when he led what is considered to be one of the greatest sides ever to play the game.

He retired from Santos in 1974 but a year later made a surprise comeback by signing a lucrative deal to join the New York Cosmos in the then nascent North American Soccer League.

In a glorious 21-year career he scored between 1,281 and 1,283 goals, depending on how matches are counted.