France and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has been named the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner.
It is a first Ballon d’Or award for Benzema who has become the first French player to do so since Zinedine Zidane in 1998. The Frenchman becomes only the second player aside from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the award since 2008. Benzema’s Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric won the prize in 2018.
Sadio Mane, who moved from Liverpool to Bayern Munich last summer, came second while Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne finished in third.
Robert Lewandowski, who was widely tipped to be one of the frontrunners for the prize, came fourth in the vote.
Benzema said “There was a difficult period where I wasn’t in the French team but I never stopped working hard or gave up,” Benzema said on stage.
“Really proud of my journey here. It wasn’t easy it was difficult. To be here today for the first time, I am happy, pleased for my work and want to keep going.
“I want to thank all my team-mates at Real Madrid and France and my coach and the Real Madrid president who is here this evening and also the support of Jean-Michel Aulas [Lyon president].
“There are a lot of people to thank. It is an individual prize but still a collective one because of everyone who played a role in it.”
France have now five different Ballon d’Or winners, with no other country having more.
LAST FIVE FRENCH BALLON D’OR WINNERS
Raymond Kopa – 1958
Michel Platini – 1983 / 1984 / 1985
Jean-Pierre Papin – 1991
Zinedine Zidane – 1998
Karim Benzema – 2022
Benzema scored 44 goals in 46 games as he helped Real Madrid win the Champions League and La Liga in 2021-22. Aged 34, Benzema is the oldest Ballon d’Or winner since Stanley Matthews in 1956. However, the France international says he has a “burning desire” to keep playing.
His performances in the Champions League drew huge acclaim. He scored hat-tricks in the last-16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain and in the quarter-final first leg against Chelsea.He scored again in the decisive second leg against the London club before striking again in both the semi-final first and second legs against Manchester City.
The closest Benzema came to winning the Ballon d’Or before 2022 was last year when he finished fourth in the voting. He received 239 points which was 374 behind winner Messi.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo finished in 20th this year.
Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas retained the Women’s Ballon d’Or, awarded to the best best female footballer of 2022.
Premier League champions Manchester City, who had six nominees at the ceremony, were awarded Club of the Year ahead of Liverpool.
Robert Lewandowski, who placed fourth in the Ballon d’Or top 10, got the the Gerd Muller award for best striker, Real Madrid and Belgium shot stopper Thibaut Courtois won the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper.
Sadio Mane of Senegal and Bayern Munich won the Socrates award for his humanitarian works while Barcelona and Spain youngster Gavi won the KOPA trophy which is the award for the best young player in world football.
The Ballon d’Or is awarded to the best footballer of the year, based on performance over the 2021-22 season.
The 2022 Ballon d’Or award presented by France Football was held at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, France and hosted by French-British TV journalist, show host and presenter Sandy Heribert and Côte d’Ivoire and Chelsea legend Didier Drogba.
2022 BALLON D’OR RANKINGS
=25: Joao Cancelo (Manchester City)
=25: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
=25: Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
=25: Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea / Real Madrid)
=25: Darwin Nunez (Benfica – moved to Liverpool)
=25: Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
=22: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
=22: Phil Foden (Manchester City)
=22: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
21: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
20: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus / Manchester United)
=17: Luis Diaz (Porto / Liverpool)
=17: Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina / Juventus)
=17: Casemiro (Real Madrid – moved to Manchester United)
16: Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool)
=14: Rafael Leao (AC Milan)
=14: Fabinho (Liverpool)
=13: Sebastien Haller (Ajax / Dortmund)
12: Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
11: Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
- Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich – moved to Barcelona)
- Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
- Sadio Mane (Liverpool – moved to Bayern Munich)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Exactly.