Pele named 15 Brazilians, including himself, in his list of the 100 greatest living footballers - more than those of any other country.
Brazil, who have won the World Cup an unprecedented five times, came out on top of Pele's list, followed by 14 Italians and 14 Frenchmen.
The Brazilians include Ronaldo, who scored both goals in the 2002 World Cup final victory over Germany, and Pele's playing contemporaries Carlos Alberto, Rivelino as well as Djalma and Nilton Santos with whom he won World Cups in 1958 and 1970.
Pele angered his countrymen by leaving three famous World Cup team-mates off the list. Jairzinho, Tostao and Gerson, three of the stars of Brazil's memorable 1970 World Cup triumph, were missing.
Pele's defence was that there were too many Brazilians to choose from.
"I did my best," he said. "I asked if we could have 1 000 players but I was told it should be only 100. I could have picked 100 from Brazil."
Gerson wasn't impressed, appearing on a Brazilian television programme tearing up a piece of paper as if it were Pele's list. "I respect his opinion, but I don't agree," Gerson said. "Beside Zidane, Platini and Fontaine, I'm behind 11 Frenchmen? That is a joke."
Pele named 13 Dutchmen, including old master Johan Cruyff and Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, and 10 from both Germany and Argentina, including Diego Maradona, arguably the second greatest player to grace the game after Pele himself.
The list, featuring only those players who are still alive, includes 1950s greats Alfredo di Stefano (Argentina/Spain) and Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) and one of France's great heroes Just Fontaine, whose 13 goals in the 1958 World Cup finals remains a record.
Stars of the 1960s include Gordon Banks and Bobby Charlton, who helped England to their only World Cup triumph in 1966. Franz Beckenbauer, the only man to captain and coach a team to success in the World Cup final, is also in the list.
Greats like Bobby Moore, who captained England to victory playing against Beckenbauer in the 1966 final, and one of Cameroon's finest players Marc Vivien Foe, who collapsed and died while playing last year, are not included.
Pressed into picking his outstanding player, apart from himself, Pele said Frenchmen Zinedine Zidane and David Trezeguet stood out, along with fellow Brazilians Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo.
The list also includes two American females - Michelle Akers and Mia Hamm - who have been at the forefront of the development of the women's game in recent years.
The list is part of the centenary celebrations for FIFA. - Reuters
Pele picks his top 100
The "FIFA 100" greatest living footballers as nominated by Pele:
Argentina:
Alfredo Di Stefano, Daniel Passarella, Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Hernan Crespo, Javier Saviola, Javier Zanetti, Juan Sebastian Veron, Mario Kempes, Omar Sivori
Belgium:
Franky van der Elst, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Jan Cuelemans
Brazil:
Cafu, Carlos Alberto, Djalma Santos, Falcao, Nilton Santos, Junior, Pele, Rivaldo, Rivelino, Roberto Carlos, Romario, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Socrates, Zico
Bulgaria:
Hristo Stoichkov
Cameroon:
Roger Milla
Chile:
Pablo Figueroa, Ivan Zamorano
Colombia:
Carlos Valderrama
Croatia:
Davor Suker
Czech Republic:
Josef Masopust, Pavel Nedved
Denmark:
Brian Laudrup, Michael Laudrup, Peter Schmeichel
England:
Alan Shearer, Bobby Charlton, David Beckham, Gary Lineker, Gordon Banks, Kevin Keegan, Michael Owen
France:
David Trezeguet, Didier Deschamps, Eric Cantona, Jean-Pierre Papin, Just Fontaine, Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Marius Tresor, Michel Platini, Patrick Vieira, Raymond Kopa, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane
Germany:
Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Mueller, Jurgen Klinsmann, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Lothar Matthaeus, Michael Ballack, Oliver Kahn, Paul Breitner, Sepp Maier, Uwe Seeler
Ghana:
Abedi Pele
Hungary:
Ferenc Puskas
Ireland:
Roy Keane
Italy:
Alessandro Del Piero, Alessandro Nesta, Christian Vieri, Dino Zoff, Francesco Totti, Franco Baresi, Giampiero Boniperti, Giacinto Fachetti, Gianluca Buffon, Gianni Rivera, Giuseppe Bergomi, Paolo Rossi, Paolo Maldini, Roberto Baggio
Japan:
Hidetoshi Nakata
Liberia:
George Weah
Mexico:
Hugo Sanchez
Netherlands:
Clarence Seedorf, Dennis Bergkamp, Edgar Davids, Frank Rijkaard, Johan Neeskens, Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Patrick Kluivert, Rene van de Kerkhof, Rob Rensenbrink, Ruud Gullit, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Willie van de Kerkhof
Nigeria:
Jay-Jay Okocha
N Ireland:
George Best
Paraguay:
Romerito
Peru:
Teofilo Cubillas
Poland:
Zbigniew Boniek
Portugal:
Eusebio, Luis Figo, Rui Costa
Romania:
Georghe Hagi
Russia:
Rinat Disayev
Scotland:
Kenny Dalglish
Senegal:
El Hadji Diouf
South Korea:
Hong Myung-Bo
Spain:
Emilio Butragueno, Luis Enrique, Raul
Turkey:
Emre Belozoglu, Rustu Recber
Ukraine:
Andriy Shevchenko
Uruguay:
Enzo Francescoli
United States (women):
Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm