Career
Now retired, he still supports R.S.C. Anderlecht, his former team He was nicknamed Polle Gazon (Polle is Paul in Brussels dialect, and Gazon means lawn in Dutch and French) due to the large number of fouls committed on him. In 1964, he played in the Belgium-Netherlands match alongside 10 Anderlecht players after the substitution of goalkeeper Delhasse by Jean Trappeniers.
With Anderlecht, he scored 233 goals in 457 matches (16 seasons).
He then played for RWDM (another Brussels club) in 1975-1976 and for Eendracht Aalst (then in the second division) in the following season. Between 1960 and 1974, "Polle Gazon" scored 30 goals (in 81 matches) for the Belgian national team
This performance made him Belgium"s topscorer—along with Bernard Voorhoof—and the fifth most capped player for his country. He made his debut on 19 October 1960 in a match against Sweden and he was part of Belgium"s team which qualified for the 1970 World Cup.
Van Himst then helped Belgium reach third place at the Euro 1972.
He also holds the record of Golden Shoe, awarded to him four times. In November 2003, to celebrate Union of European Football Associations"s Jubilee, he was named the Golden Player of Belgium by the Belgian Football Association as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. He appeared in the 1981 film Escape to Victory, as Michel Fieu.
He is an ambassador for the Belgian/South-African non-governmental organization "Born In Africa" since 2005.