In 1982 the Ballon d'Or was won by Paolo Rossi. That was after the six goals he scored during the World Cup helped Italy win the tournament. An achievement that was all the more remarkable for Rossi having only just returned from a lenghty suspenion due to a betting scandal.
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| Paolo Rossi celebrates scoring the opening goal in the final of the 1982 World Cup |
Rossi being named 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, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Scotland, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, West Germany and Yugoslavia.
The result was announced in the edition dated December 28th, 1982. Alain Giresse was was erroneously reported as having received 68 points, with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge reported as having received only 47 points.
| Name | Country | Club | Pts. |
|
1. |
Paolo Rossi | Italy | Juventus | 115 |
2. |
Alain Giresse | France | Girondins Bordeaux | 64 |
3. |
Zbigniew Boniek | Poland | Juventus | 53 |
4. |
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 51 |
5. |
Bruno Conti | Italy | AS Roma | 48 |
6. |
Rinat Dassaev | Soviet Union | Spartak Moscow | 17 |
7. |
Pierre Littbarski | West Germany | FC Köln | 10 |
8. |
Dino Zoff | Italy | Juventus | 9 |
9. |
Michel Platini | France | Juventus | 5 |
10. |
Bernd Schuster | West Germany | FC Barcelona | 4 |
11. |
Giancarlo Antognoni | Italy | Fiorentina | 3 |
12. |
Bruno Pezzey | Austria | Eintracht Frankfurt | 2 |
| Gaetano Scirea | Italy | Juventus | 2 | |
| Eric Gerets | Belgium | Standard Liege | 2 | |
15. |
Paul Breitner | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 1 |
| Torbjörn Nilsson | Sweden | IFK Göthenburg | 1 | |
| Walter Schachner | Austria | Cesena | 1 | |
| Marco Tardelli | Italy | Juventus | 1 | |
| Marius Tresor | France | Girondins Bordeaux | 1 | |
1981 • European Footballer of the Year • 1983