DETAILED STATISTICAL PROFILE

Ballon d'Or Performance and Criteria

• Pace and Explosiveness: Eusébio combined blistering speed with raw power, effortlessly surging past defenders with rapid bursts. This explosiveness made him a constant threat on counter-attacks.

• Intelligent Positioning and Refined Technique: Eusébio seamlessly blended an exceptional sense of positioning within the box with superb technique and agility. He had a knack for anticipating plays, capitalizing on rebounds, and possessed the skill to dribble in tight spaces, making his playing style complete and incredibly difficult to mark.

Efficiency Statistics

• Historic Goalscorer: Eusébio stands as one of football's most prolific strikers, netting 727 official goals for Benfica. This astonishing tally highlights his predatory instinct and his consistent ability to decide matches over many years, boasting an almost one-goal-per-game average, a truly rare feat in football.

• Eternal Benfica Icon: Eusébio is widely regarded as Benfica's greatest ever player, having secured 17 titles with the club across 15 seasons. This successful tenure, marked by a European title and multiple national championships, underscores his historical impact and his pivotal role during the club's most triumphant era.

• National Team Legend: Eusébio was one of the most significant figures in the history of the Portuguese national team and is Portugal's 3rd highest goalscorer, with a total of 42 goals. He was the standout performer for the squad at the 1966 World Cup, leading the team to a historic 3rd place finish and ending as the tournament's top scorer. To this day, this remains Portugal's best World Cup campaign.