1961 Ballon d'Or Results
The Ballon d'Or award is an annual football award for the best player from the previous year. Up until 1995 it was awarded only to football players from Europe and was generally known as the European Footballer of the Year award.
Omar Sívori receiving his Ballon d'Or in 1961Below are the nominees in the final order after voting for the 1961 award. The winner was Omar Sívori who played for Juventus. Sivori was born in Argentina, and played the Argentinian national team before becoming an Italian citizen and also playing for Italy. He had taken Italian citizenship by that time he won this award, and is therefore listed as the first Italian player to win the award.
As only European players were eligible for the Ballon d'Or at this time, there may have been players outside of Europe deserving of the best player of the year award. To coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Ballon d'Or in 2016, the results were reevaluated, and it was determined that in 1961 Pelé would have won if he was eligible.
See the list of all Ballon d'Or winners.
Final order for the men's 1961 Ballon d'Or
| Order | Player | Club | Nationality | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Omar Sívori | Juventus | Italy | 46 |
| 2 | Luis Suárez | Barcelona / Internazionale | Spain | 40 |
| 3 | Johnny Haynes | Fulham | England | 22 |
| 4 | Lev Yashin | Dynamo Moscow | Soviet Union | 21 |
| 5 | Ferenc Puskás | Real Madrid | Hungary | 16 |
| 6 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | Real Madrid | Spain | 13 |
| Uwe Seeler | Hamburger SV | West Germany | 13 | |
| 8 | John Charles | Juventus | Wales | 10 |
| 9 | Francisco Gento | Real Madrid | Spain | 8 |
| 10 | José Águas | Benfica | Portugal | 5 |
| Bobby Charlton | Manchester United | England | 5 | |
| Gyula Grosics | Tatabánya | Hungary | 5 | |
| Gerhard Hanappi | Rapid Wien | Austria | 5 | |
| Josef Masopust | Dukla Prague | Czechoslovakia | 5 | |
| José Santamaría | Real Madrid | Spain | 5 | |
| Dragoslav Šekularac | Red Star Belgrade | Yugoslavia | 5 | |
| 17 | Danny Blanchflower | Tottenham Hotspur | Northern Ireland | 4 |
| Germano | Benfica | Portugal | 4 | |
| Kurt Hamrin | Fiorentina | Sweden | 4 | |
| Mikheil Meskhi | Dinamo Tbilisi | Soviet Union | 4 | |
| Viktor Ponedelnik | SKA Rostov-on-Don | Soviet Union | 4 | |
| Horst Szymaniak | Karlsruher SC / Catania | West Germany | 4 | |
| 23 | José Augusto | Benfica | Portugal | 3 |
| Denis Law | Manchester City | Scotland | 3 | |
| Torino | 3 | |||
| Slava meterveli | Torpedo Moscow | Soviet Union | 3 | |
| Max Morlock | 1. FC Nürnberg | West Germany | 3 | |
| Horst Nemec | Austria Wien | Austria | 3 | |
| 28 | Pierre Bernard | Sedan / Nîmes | France | 2 |
| Gert Dörfel | Hamburger SV | West Germany | 2 | |
| Norbert Eschmann | Stade Français | Switzerland | 2 | |
| Jimmy Greaves | Chelsea / Milan / Tottenham Hotspur | England | 2 | |
| Lucien Muller | Reims | France | 2 | |
| Costa Pereira | Benfica | Portugal | 2 | |
| Lajos Tichy | Budapest Honvéd | Hungary | 2 | |
| 35 | Charles Antenen | La Chaux-de-Fonds | Switzerland | 1 |
| Mário Coluna | Benfica | Portugal | 1 | |
| Eusébio | Benfica | Portugal | 1 | |
| Gernot Fraydl | Austria Wien | Austria | 1 | |
| Karl Koller | First Vienna | Austria | 1 | |
| Rudolf Kučera | Dukla Prague | Czechoslovakia | 1 | |
| Dumitru Macri | Rapid București | Romania | 1 | |
| Jimmy McIlroy | Burnley | Northern Ireland | 1 | |
| Karl Stotz | Austria Wien | Austria | 1 |
Related Pages
- Ballon d'Or Home
- Men's Ballon d'Or Winner's List
- Football Awards Lists
- List of the FIFA male player of the year and FIFA female player of the year.
- History of the Ballon d'Or
- The Year in Sport: 1961
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