He never played professionally in the eastern hemisphere, and even through the World Cup, his exposure wasn't as widespread then as it would be today, as not nearly as many countries really competed in soccer then as do now.

If Pele had hit his prime at the same time Jordan hit his, I think he would be just as iconic as Jordan, if not more so. But I think his era limits that.

If you are going to consider Pele, you have to consider someone like Sachin Tendulkar, who is probably the biggest cricketer of all time. In terms of raw numbers of people who know who he is, you could make a good argument for either of them. But if you are thinking about breadth of coverage, I think Jordan and Ali are a cut above.