In 1962 the Ballon d'Or was won by Josef Masopust. The midfielder captained Czechoslovakia to the final of the World Cup that year. Masopust even scored the opening goal in the game, but the lead only lasted a few minutes, with Brazil going on to win 3-1. With his club Dukla Prague he won a second consecutive Czechoslovak championship.
| Embed from Getty Images |
| World Cup 1962: Josef Masopust challenges Pelé |
Masopust being voted European Footballer of the Year was the outcome of a ballot held among a panel of football journalists organised by the magazine France Football, with one vote coming from each of the following 19 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, West Germany and Yugoslavia.
The result was announced in the edition dated December 18th, 1962.
| Name | Country | Club | Pts. |
|
1. |
Josef Masopust | Czechoslovakia | Dukla Prague | 65 |
2. |
Eusebio | Portugal | Benfica | 53 |
3. |
Karl-Heinz Schnellinger | West Germany | 1.FC Köln | 33 |
4. |
Dragoslav Sekularac | Yugoslavia | Red Star Belgrade | 26 |
5. |
Jef Jurion | Belgium | Anderlecht | 15 |
6. |
Gianni Rivera | Italy | AC Milan | 14 |
7. |
Jimmy Greaves | England | Tottenham Hotspur | 11 |
8. |
Milan Galic | Yugoslavia | Partizan Belgrade | 10 |
9. |
John Charles | Wales | Leeds | 9 |
10. |
János Göröcs | Hungary | Ujpesti Dozsa | 6 |
11. |
José Aguas | Portugal | Benfica | 4 |
| Denis Law | Scotland | Manchester United | 4 | |
| Omar Sivori | Italy [1] | Juventus | 4 | |
| Raymond Kopa | France | Stade de Reims | 4 | |
15. |
Luis del Sol | Spain | Juventus | 3 |
| Andrej Kvasniak | Czechoslovakia | Sparta Prague | 3 | |
| André Lerond | France | Stade Français | 3 | |
| Luis Suárez | Spain | Inter Milan | 3 | |
19. |
Florian Albert | Hungary | Ferencváros | 2 |
| Kurt Hamrin | Sweden | Fiorentina | 2 | |
| Horst Nemec | Austria | Austria Vienna | 2 | |
| Joaquín Peiró | Spain | Atlético Madrid | 2 | |
| Viliam Schroiff | Czechoslovakia | Slovan Bratislava | 2 | |
| Ernö Solymosi | Hungary | Ujpesti Dozsa | 2 | |
25. |
Francisco Gento | Spain | Real Madrid | 1 |
| Ezio Pascutti | Italy | Bologna | 1 | |
| Lajos Tichy | Hungary | Honved Boedapest | 1 | |
1961 • European Footballer of the Year • 1963
#1: Omar Sivori was born in Argentina, and had previously made international appearances for that country, but now played for Italy.