1966 Ballon d’Or Winner: Bobby Charlton. A Battle Of World Class Legends

The 1966 Ballon d’Or remains one of the closest contests in the award’s history.

It pitted World Cup winner Bobby Charlton against Portuguese legend Eusébio with the Englishman finishing only a single point ahead of his rival.

The two men went toe to toe in a fight to be named Europe’s finest player. It would take the trials and tribulations of a global competition to ultimately divide the pair and see a Ballon d’Or champion crowned.

1966 proved the battle of World Class Legends.

World Class Seasons

By the time 1966 rolled around, both Bobby Charlton and Eusebio were already established and revered World Class talents. Since the start of the decade they had been performing at an outstanding level, recording phenomenal statistics and driving their clubs to numerous accolades.

The 1965/66 season was Charlton’s tenth at Old Trafford. The Newcastle-born midfielder joined Manchester United in 1956 and soon broke into the first team via their majestic academy system – the very same set-up that spawned the heroic Busby Babes.

That campaign, he scored 18 times in 54 appearances and although United missed out on Silverware, Charlton scooped the British ‘Footballer Writers Association Footballer of the Year’ award.

Eusebio was equally mesmeric. The Portuguese powerhouse forward scored a remarkable 37 goals in just 30 games across all competitions. In the Primeira Liga alone he netted 25 times in only 23 league games, although much like Charlton and despite giving his all, Benfica ended the season without a major honour.

He also finished as the European Cup’s joint top scorer with seven goals alongside Ferencváros striker Florian Albert.

Significantly, Eusebio’s Benfica suffered defeat at the hands of Charlton’s Manchester United side in the European Cup Quarter finals. During the second leg it was the Englishman who scored an 89th minute goal to seal a 5-1 away win for United and a damning 8-3 loss on aggregate for Benfica.

A moment that Ballon d’Or voters no doubt remembered.

1966 World Cup

The 1965/66 season drew to a close and summer brought the 1966 World Cup to English shores for the first time.

Both Charlton and Eusebio were in prime form and their respective countries amongst the favourites to claim the Jules Rimet trophy.

Bobby Charlton had enjoyed the best year of his life at international level having won a career high of fifteen caps and scored six goals for the Three Lions.

By comparison, Eusebio’s record for his nation was even more impressive, the Portuguese striker scoring twelve times in as many appearances.

Charlton found the net three times during the tournament itself with his strikes proving crucial each time. He scored the opening goal in England’s tightly fought second group game vs Mexico as the hosts won 2-0 and eventually topped their group.

The midfielder also struck twice in the semi-final vs Eusebio’s Portugal. His memorable contribution during such an important tie likely cementing his Ballon d’Or triumph.

Eusebio scored an incredible nine goals at the finals. He netted three times in the group stage against Bulgaria and Brazil as Portugal won Group three.

The forward scored four goals vs North Korea in the quarter finals, a consolation penalty vs England and once during their third place play-off win over the Soviet Union.

Eusebio took home the World Cup Golden Boot as the competition’s top scorer and Charlton judged its best player after claiming FIFA’s World Cup Golden Ball.

Yet the Englishman was World Champion. Ultimately, his successes over Eusebio during their titanic individual battles made the difference and Charlton was named a Ballon d’Or winner.

1966 Ballon d’Or Top 20

Trivia

• Bobby Charlton finished on the Ballon d’Or ‘podium’ a total of three times across three consecutive seasons – as runner-up in 1967 and 1968 following victory in 1966.
• Eusebio scored 30% of all his international goals for Portugal during the calendar year of 1966 – ending with 41 goals for his country.
• Franz Beckenbauer was in fine goalscoring form during 1966, the defender scoring seven times for West Germany, which proved a career best tally.