From Pele on down, plenty of soccer immortals have played at Yankee Stadium

The Brazilian legend first played on the hallowed ground in the 1960s with his club team Santos and later played an entire season in the Bronx with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League in 1976 before the Cosmos settled at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford.

On Sunday, soccer returns to the Bronx with the Major League Soccer expansion franchise New York City FC making its home debut against the New England Revolution.

Unlike during the Cosmos’ one season at the Stadium, NYCFC will cover a majority of the baseball dirt infield with sod, which will then be removed when the Yankees play.

Last August, NYCFC’s parent club Manchester City faced fellow English Premier League power Liverpool at Yankee Stadium in an exhibition match and the temporary grass received mixed reviews.

Stillitano, who served as the venue director at Giants Stadium for the 1994 World Cup, has worked with the Yankees to bring international soccer matches to the Bronx.

Three years ago, Stillitano organized the first soccer game at the new Yankee Stadium when the popular English club Chelsea faced French club Paris Saint-Germain.

On June 28, 1931, eight years after the Stadium opened, Glasgow Celtic of Scotland completed a four-game trip to New York when it played the first major soccer game at the ballpark against an all-star team from the American Soccer League.

Some of Italy’s biggest clubs AC Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli as well as English teams Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United have played at Yankee Stadium.

“For an athletic child growing up in the Bronx, the most famous buildings in the world were Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden,” said Messing, who works as an analyst for New York Red Bulls games on MSG Network.