Pelé, Eusébio, Luis Suárez, Sandro Mazzola and John Charles described Di Stéfano as "the most complete footballer in the history of the game".
Zasedel je četrto mesto v glasovanju tednika "France Football" (pred njega so se uvrstili Pelé, Diego Maradona in Johan Cruyff) za najboljšega nogometaša stoletja med dobitniki nagrade Ballon d'Or.