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.

EusébioEusébio kicking the ball in 1965

Below are the nominees in the final order after voting for the 1965 award. The winner was Eusébio who was a striker for Benfica. Eusébio was born in Portuguese Mozambique, and was called “Africa’s first great footballer". Eusébio is officially the first player from Portugal to win the award, though Mozambique may also claim him as one of their own. See the list of all Ballon d'Or winners.

Final order for the men's 1965 Ballon d'Or

Order Player Club Nationality Points
1 Eusébio Benfica Portugal 67
2 Giacinto Facchetti Internazionale Italy 59
3 Luis Suárez Internazionale Spain 45
4 Paul Van Himst Anderlecht Belgium 25
5 Bobby Charlton Manchester United England 19
6 Flórián Albert Ferencváros Hungary 14
7 Gianni Rivera Milan Italy 10
8 Georgi Asparuhov Levski Sofia Bulgaria 9
  Sandro Mazzola Internazionale Italy 9
  Valery Voronin Torpedo Moskva Soviet Union 9
11 Denis Law Manchester United Scotland 8
12 Karl-Heinz Schnellinger Roma / Milan West Germany 6
13 Jim Baxter Rangers / Sunderland Scotland 5
  Ferenc Puskás Real Madrid Spain 5
15 Mario Corso Internazionale Italy 3
  Lev Yashin Dynamo Moscow Soviet Union  
17 Amancio Real Madrid Spain 2
  Franz Beckenbauer Bayern Munich West Germany 2
  Ferenc Bene Újpest Hungary 2
  Mário Coluna Benfica Portugal 2
  Milan Galić Partizan Yugoslavia 2
  Philippe Gondet Nantes France 2
  Andrej Kvašňák Sparta Prague Czechoslovakia 2
  Slava meterveli Dinamo Tbilisi Soviet Union 2
25 Ivor Allchurch Cardiff City /  Swansea Town Wales 1
  Sigfried Held Kickers Offenbach /  Borussia Dortmund West Germany 1
  Köbi Kuhn Zürich Switzerland 1