In 1966 the Ballon d'Or was won by Bobby Charlton. The survivor of the 1958 Munich air disaster that saw eight of his Manchester United team mates lose their lives, was the star of the English national team that won the FIFA World Championship on home soil in 1966.
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| World Cup 1966: Bobby Charlton takes on a young Franz Beckenbauer |
Charlton 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 22 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, West Germany and Yugoslavia.
The result was announced in the edition dated December 27th, 1966.
| Name | Country | Club | Pts. |
|
1. |
Bobby Charlton | England | Manchester United | 81 |
2. |
Eusebio | Portugal | Benfica | 80 |
3. |
Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 59 |
4. |
Bobby Moore | England | West Ham United | 31 |
5. |
Florian Albert | Hungary | Ferencváros | 23 |
6. |
Ferenc Bene | Hungary | Ujpesti Dozsa | 8 |
7. |
Alan Ball | England | Everton | 6 |
| Lev Yashin | Soviet Union | Dinamo Moscow | 6 | |
| Janos Farkas | Hungary | Vasas Budapest | 8 | |
10. |
Jose Torres | Portugal | Benfica | 5 |
11. |
Mario Corso | Italy | Inter Milan | 4 |
| Valery Voronin | Soviet Union | Torpedo Moscow | 4 | |
13. |
Mario Coluna | Portugal | Benfica | 3 |
14. |
Georgi Asparukhov | Bulgaria | Levski Sofia | 2 |
| Gordon Banks | England | Leicester City | 2 | |
| Geoff Hurst | England | West Ham United | 2 | |
| Alessandro Mazzola | Italy | Inter Milan | 2 | |
18. |
Igor Chislenko | Soviet Union | Dinamo Moscow | 1 |
| Tony Dunne | Northern Ireland | Manchester United | 1 | |
| Helmut Haller | West Germany | Bologna | 1 | |
| Denis Law | Scotland | Manchester United | 1 | |
| Willy Schulz | West Germany | Hamburger SV | 1 | |
| Paul van Himst | Belgium | Anderlecht | 1 | |
1965 • European Footballer of the Year • 1967