Puma King

About

The Puma King traces back to 1966, when Puma created the boot for Portuguese forward Eusébio after his run to the World Cup Golden Boot that year. Eusébio asked Puma co-founder Rudolf Dassler for a softer, more flexible boot, and the resulting design — nicknamed the "Wunderschuh," or wonder shoe — introduced a new sole construction and non-slip nylon screw studs built for comfort over stiffness. By 1970, Puma had reworked the boot into a flatter, lighter build, and Pelé wore that version through Brazil's third World Cup title, where he was named Player of the Tournament; from that point the boot became known as the King Pelé. The silhouette went on to anchor decades of football history: Johan Cruyff signed with Puma and wore the King from 1974, Diego Maradona wore it throughout the 1986 World Cup, and Lothar Matthäus wore it to a 1990 World Cup win with Germany. Puma has continued developing the line, including a K-Better synthetic construction that phased out the original K-Leather upper, with the King name still active on boots worn by modern players including Neymar Jr.