# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/nilton-santos
# Generated: 2026-08-31T14:41:04.026Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/nilton-santos"
name: "Nílton Santos"
slug: "nilton-santos"
description: "Brazilian wingback who anchored two World Cup-winning sides and made Pelé's all-time 125. Played left, Djalma Santos played right — same surname, no relation, same backline for a decade."
tagline: "Brazilian association football player (1925-2013)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Nilton_Santos_1_(1956).tif?width=1024"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Brazil"
  isoCode: "BR"
category:
  name: "Footballers"
  slug: "footballers"
profileType:
  name: "Football / Soccer Player"
  slug: "footballer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q937857"
birthDate: "1925-05-16"
deathDate: "2013-11-27"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           58.33
  momentum:             21.86922702965484
  historical:           23.16634666666667
  currentAttention:     61.48559730954818
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "BREAKOUT"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Footballers"
    slug: "footballers"
  - name: "Football / Soccer Player"
    slug: "football-soccer-player"
  - name: "Soccer"
    slug: "soccer"
  - name: "Football"
    slug: "football"
  - name: "Brazil"
    slug: "brazil"
  - name: "Americas"
    slug: "americas"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "http://www.niltonsantos.com.br"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q83329"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_Santos"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/N%C3%ADlton%20Santos"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ay.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilton_Santos"
    title: "Nilton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "نیلتون سانتوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D1%96%D0%BB%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%83%D1%81"
    title: "Нілтан Сантус"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%88"
    title: "Нилтон Сантош"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_dos_Santos"
    title: "Nílton dos Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_Reis_dos_Santos"
    title: "Nílton Reis dos Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_Santos"
    title: "Nílton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_Santos"
    title: "Nílton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_Santos"
    title: "Nílton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9D%CE%AF%CE%BB%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BD_%CE%A3%CE%AC%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%82"
    title: "Νίλτον Σάντος"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilton_Santos"
    title: "Nilton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilton_dos_Santos"
    title: "Nilton dos Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "نیلتون سانتوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_Santos"
    title: "Nílton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_Santos"
    title: "Nílton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilton_Santos"
    title: "Nilton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%98%D7%95%D7%9F_%D7%A1%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%95%D7%A1"
    title: "נילטון סנטוס"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_Santos"
    title: "Nílton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%86%D5%AB%D5%AC%D5%BF%D5%B8%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%BF%D5%B8%D5%BD"
    title: "Նիլտոն Սանտոս"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_Santos"
    title: "Nílton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADlton_Santos"
    title: "Nílton Santos"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8B%E3%82%A6%E3%83%88%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B5%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%82%B9"
    title: "ニウトン・サントス"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nilton_Santos"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "نيلتون سانتوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "نيلتون سانتوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Nílton dos Santos was born 16 May 1925 and built his career as a wingback before the role had a name, pushing forward when most defenders stayed home. He won the World Cup with Brazil in 1958, then again in 1962, forming half of a defensive partnership with Djalma Santos that confused commentators for years — the two were unrelated. Pelé named him to the top 125 living footballers at a 2004 FIFA ceremony, and in 2009 he received the Golden Foot Legends Award. He was later voted into the World Team of the 20th Century, a fixture on every list of the greatest defenders the game has produced. He died 27 November 2013.