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.

George Best George Best

Below are the nominees in the final order after voting for the 1968 award. The winner was a Northern Ireland footballer George Best who played for Manchester United. He is the only player from Northern Ireland to win the award. See the list of all Ballon d'Or winners.

Final order for the men's 1968 Ballon d'Or

Order Player Club Nationality Points
1 George Best Manchester United Northern Ireland 61
2 Bobby Charlton Manchester United England 53
3 Dragan Džajić Red Star Belgrade Yugoslavia 46
4 Franz Beckenbauer Bayern Munich West Germany 36
5 Giacinto Facchetti Internazionale Italy 30
6 Gigi Riva Cagliari Italy 22
7 Amancio Real Madrid Spain 21
8 Eusébio Benfica Portugal 15
9 Gianni Rivera Milan Italy 13
10 Jimmy Greaves Tottenham Hotspur England 8
  Pirri Real Madrid Spain 8
12 Antal Dunai Újpest Hungary 7
  Willi Schulz Hamburger SV West Germany 7
14 Georgi Asparuhov Levski Sofia Bulgaria 6
  Albert Shesternyov CSKA Moscow Soviet Union 6
16 Ove Kindvall Feyenoord Sweden 5
17 Flórián Albert Ferencváros Hungary 4
  Sandro Mazzola Internazionale Italy 4
  Lajos Szűcs Ferencváros Hungary 4
20 Johan Cruyff Ajax Netherlands 3
  Gerd Müller Bayern Munich West Germany 3
22 Jack Charlton Leeds United England 2
  Bobby Moore West Ham United England 2
24 Alan Ball Everton England 1
  Ferenc Bene Újpest Hungary 1
  Angelo Domenghini Internazionale Italy 1
  Mirsad Fazlagić Sarajevo Yugoslavia 1
  Tommy Gemmell Celtic Scotland 1
  Jimmy Johnstone Celtic Scotland 1
  Murtaz Khurtsilava Dinamo Tbilisi Soviet Union 1
  Ivica Osim Željezničar Yugoslavia 1
  Louis Pilot Standard Liège Luxembourg 1