The 1968 Ballon d'Or, given to the best
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from
UEFA member countries, was awarded to
George Best on 24 December 1968.
Best was the first
Northern Irish national to win the award. He was the third
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
player to win the trophy after
Denis Law
Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City ...
(1964) and
Bobby Charlton (1966).
Rankings
References
External links
''France Football'' Official Ballon d'Or page
{{Ballon d'Or recipients
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Januar ...
1968–69 in European football