The 1956 Ballon d'Or was the inaugural Ballon d'Or award given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries.[1] Stanley Matthews received the award on 18 December 1956.[2][3]

1956 Ballon d'Or
1956 Ballon d'Or winner Stanley Matthews in 1962
Date18 December 1956
LocationParis, France
Presented byFrance Football
Highlights
Won byEngland Stanley Matthews (1st award)
Websitefrancefootball.fr/ballon-d-or
← Established · Ballon d'Or · 1957 →

Rankings

edit
Rank Name Club(s) Nationality Points
1 Stanley Matthews   Blackpool   England 47
2 Alfredo Di Stéfano   Real Madrid   Spain[a] 44
3 Raymond Kopa   Reims
  Real Madrid
  France 33
4 Ferenc Puskás   Budapest Honvéd   Hungary 32
5 Lev Yashin   Dynamo Moscow   Soviet Union 19
6 József Bozsik   Budapest Honvéd   Hungary 15
7 Ernst Ocwirk   Austria Wien
  Sampdoria
  Austria 9
8 Sándor Kocsis   Budapest Honvéd   Hungary 6
9 Thadée Cisowski   RC Paris   France 4
Ivan Kolev   CDNA Sofia   Bulgaria
Billy Wright   Wolverhampton Wanderers   England
12 Júlio Botelho   Fiorentina   Italy[b] 3
13 Stefan Bozhkov   CDNA Sofia   Bulgaria 2
Duncan Edwards   Manchester United   England
Gerhard Hanappi   Rapid Wien   Austria
Robert Jonquet   Reims   France
Miguel Montuori   Fiorentina   Italy
Pepillo   Sevilla   Spain
Juan Alberto Schiaffino   Milan   Italy
Eduard Streltsov   Torpedo Moscow   Soviet Union
21 Marcelino Campanal   Sevilla   Spain 1
Břetislav Dolejší   Dukla Prague   Czechoslovakia
Roger Piantoni   FC Nancy   France
Kees Rijvers   Saint-Étienne   Netherlands

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Despite being born in Argentina, Alfredo Di Stéfano acquired Spanish citizenship in 1956, and would play for the Spain national team.[4]
  2. ^ Despite being born in Brazil, Júlio Botelho acquired Italian citizenship in 1956.

References

edit
  1. ^ "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or")". RSSSF. 22 October 2008. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
  2. ^ Pierrend, José Luis (23 October 2008). "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 1956". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
  3. ^ "50 Ans De Ballon D'Or" (in French). France Football. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
  4. ^ "Europe dazzled by Di Stéfano". UEFA. 22 November 2004. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
edit
  NODES
Note 3