Important not to completely discount the goals that Pele scored in ‘friendlies’. Many of them were highly fought, tough and competitive matches. Nobody ever says that Lineker scored 22 competitive goals for England. https://twitter.com/garylineker/status/1341510359346270213

For some reason a myth seems to have built up that Pele counts goals he scored in kick abouts or his back garden. There are a few in his 1283 which were against poor opposition, but plenty of them were against some of the best teams in the world.

Regardless, the biggest mistake would be (and I’m not saying Lineker is doing this) boiling either down to just goals. Take away the goals and both were still remarkable, visionary players.