In 1974 the Ballon d'Or was won by Johan Cruyff. That year the Dutch attacker starred as his national team put on a brilliant display of total football at the 1974 FIFA World Cup held in West Germany. In addition, 'El Salvador' guided his club FC Barcelona to their first Spanish league title in more than a decade.
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| World Cup 1974: Johan Cruyff about to score against Argentina |
Cruyff 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 26 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East Germany, England, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, West Germany and Yugoslavia.
The result was announced in the edition dated December 31st, 1974.
| Name | Country | Club | Pts. |
|
| 1. | Johan Cruyff | Holland | FC Barcelona | 116 |
| 2. | Franz Beckenbauer | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 105 |
| 3. | Kazimierz Deyna | Poland | Legia Warsaw | 35 |
| 4. | Paul Breitner | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 32 |
| 5. | Johan Neeskens | Holland | FC Barcelona | 21 |
| 6. | Grzegorz Lato | Poland | Stal Mielec | 16 |
| 7. | Gerd Müller | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 14 |
| 8. | Robert Gadocha | Poland | Legia Warsaw | 11 |
| 9. | Billy Bremner | Scotland | Leeds United | 9 |
| 10. | Ralf Edström | Sweden | PSV Eindhoven | 4 |
| Jürgen Sparwasser | East Germany | 1. FC Magdeburg | 4 | |
| Berti Vogts | West Germany | Borussia M'gladbach | 4 | |
| 13. | Jan Tomaszewski | Poland | LKS Lodz | 3 |
| Ronnie Hellström | Sweden | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 3 | |
| 15. | Jose Altafini | Italy | Juventus | 2 |
| Hristo Bonev | Bulgaria | Lokomotiv Plovdiv | 2 | |
| Jerzy Gorgon | Poland | Gornik Zabrze | 2 | |
| Sepp Maier | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 2 | |
| 19. | Oleg Blokhin | Soviet Union | Dynamo Kiev | 1 |
| Rainer Bonhof | West Germany | Borussia M'gladbach | 1 | |
| Jean-Marc Guillou | France | Angers SCO | 1 | |
| Uli Hoeness | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 1 | |
| Branko Oblak | Yugoslavia | Hajduk Split | 1 | |
1973 • European Footballer of the Year • 1975