The thirty-first winner of the "Golden Ball" - Igor Belanov

Thirty and firstGolden Ball winner - Igor Belanov    

In 1986, the award went to Igor Belanov from Dynamo Kyiv

Michel Platini's dominance of the Ballon d'Or for the best player in Europe ended in 1986, when the award went to Igor Belanov of Dynamo Kyiv. The striker from the Soviet Union won the award after a phenomenal season for his club and a not-too-bad performance at the World Cup in Mexico by the USSR.

Belanov collected 84 points from the voting of 26 journalists, representatives of the countries that are members of the European Football Headquarters. This happens after 8 first, seven second, four third and two fourth places. World Cup top scorer Gary Lineker is 22 points behind him. The Barcelona footballer scored six goals on the pitches in Mexico, but that alone could not bring him the prize. Third is Emilio Butragueño, who is having a good season with Real Madrid, and is the author of five goals for the quarter-finalists of the World Cup - Spain. Butragueño collects 59 points, which is only three less than the second.

Last year's runner-up Preben Elkjaer was far behind, tied for fourth with Monaco's Manuel Amoros. The two have only 22 points each. The winner of three awards in a row remains outside the top ten, closed by Alessandro Altobelli. Michel Platini is eleventh along with Belgian guard Jean-Marie Pfaff. Both have only 8 points. There are no Bulgarians in the ranking this time.

Starting from Dynamo Kyiv's season, Igor Belanov has been doing fantastic things. Although not among the top three scorers in the Cup Winners' Cup final, Belanov was one of the players who helped the Soviet Union side reach the crucial clash with Atlético Madrid. He scored five goals, the same as team-mates Oleg Blokhin and Oleksandr Zavarov, as well as Frank Lippmann of Dynamo Dresden. The four share the prize for top scorer in the competition, in which Dynamo Kyiv triumphed. In the championship of the USSR, which is played on the spring-autumn scheme, or in other words, starts at the beginning of the calendar year, Dynamo Kyiv became the champion, and Belanov helped with 10 goals for this achievement, although he remained far from the top scorer Aleksadr Borodyuk, who scores 21 hits.

At the World Cup in Mexico, Belanov managed to polish himself like a real diamond and shone with his three goals against Belgium in the round of 16. However, they turned out to be insufficient and the USSR lost 3:4 after extra time. The Dynamo Kyiv striker also scored one of the goals in the 6-0 rout of Hungary in the group stage.

Belanov's triumph is also a triumph for Soviet football, which marked a true revolution in 1986. Again thanks to Dynamo Kyiv, the country made a triumphant return to European club competition, but also played a very strong World Cup campaign before being stopped by the surprisingly good Belgians. Belanov is one of the players who helped bring about the football revolution in the Union, which did not go unnoticed by journalists in the year in question.

After the honors won by Lev Yashin in 1963 and Oleg Blokhin in 1975, the USSR has its third Golden Ball winner. Igor Belanov had a perfect year in 1986, being voted the best European footballer, although the competition did not seem so small. The not particularly strong forward impresses with a combination of qualities that make him one of the most dangerous attacking players on the Old Continent.