Winning the Ballon d’Or at 34 years makes Real Madrid Striker Karim Benzema the oldest person to receive the prize since Stanley Mathews won the first edition in 1956.
The Ballon d’Or, which translates to ‘the Golden Ball’, is an annual award presented by France Football magazine to the best player and is regarded as the most prestigious individual award in football.
Benzema was crowned winner in Paris after an exhilarating season that saw him win the UEFA Champions League and LaLiga, scoring 44 goals across all competitions. While being presented with the award by former coach, Zinedine Zidane, Benzema said, “I’m proud, this is a childhood dream. I grew up with this in my head, then I had the motivation.”
“I had two role models in life: Zizou and Ronaldo. I’ve never lowered my efforts and I’ve kept the dream in my head, even through a period in which I was not in the national team.”
“But I did not lower my efforts and it worked. It has been difficult and this only made me stronger mentally. I am satisfied with my work and I am very happy. I thank my teammates at Real Madrid and the national team.”
Before Monday Night’s Ceremony, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had won 12 of the last 13 Ballon d’Ors. Luka Modric was the only person to win during the GOAT era, in 2018. This year both football legends, Messi and Cristiano, didn’t make it to the top ten. Astonishing as it may sound, Lionel Messi, with the most Ballon d’Or wins in history, was not nominated for the 2022 Edition for the first time since 2005. Cristiano Ronaldo finished 20th, his worst in 17 years.
Karim Benzema won ahead of Sadio Mane in second and Kevin De Bruyne in third.
Read Also: Real Madrid Expose Barcelona Inferiority in El Clasico
The Women’s Ballon d’Or
Yes, this award is also given to the best female football player over the past season. Barcelona star Alexia Putellas has made history by becoming the only female player to win the prestigious award back-to-back. Ballon d’Or Feminin winner, Putellas, won the prestigious award despite being sidelined due to injury since June with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. During that campaign, Putellas scored 18 goals and registered 15 assists.
In second place was Arsenal’s Beth Mead and in third, Chelsea’s Sam Kerr.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel Switch TV
Other Big Winners on the Night
Barcelona’s Gavi picked up the Kopa Trophy, an award for the best men’s under-21 player, ahead of Jamal Musiala in second and Eduardo Camavinga in third.
Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois won Best Goalkeeper of the Year and was handed the 2022 Yashin Trophy. Courtois finished seventh in the overall Ballon d’Or voting.
FC Barcelona striker Rober Lewandowski wins the Gerd Muller Trophy, a relatively new award, as the Best Striker of the Year. Lewandowski broke Muller’s Bundesliga goalscoring record.
Manchester City has received the award for the 2022 Club of the Year, ahead of Liverpool in second and Real Madrid in third. They win the award for the first time after Chelsea won the inaugural accolade last year. This is a huge blow to Real Madrid who won both the UEFA Champions League and Laliga
Africa Wins Big
Ex-Liverpool star Sadio Mane has won the inaugural Socrates Award. According to France Football magazine, “the Socrates Prize identifies the best social initiative by committed champions”. The Bayern star, Sadio, achieved this award for his social initiatives and humanitarian work, back home in Senegal.
Top 20 Men in the 2022 Ballon d’Or Ranking
1st – Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and France)
2nd – Sadio Mane (Liverpool, Bayern Munich, and Senegal)
3rd – Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City and Belgium)
4th – Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Poland)
5th – Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt)
6th – Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain and France)
7th – Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid and Belgium)
8th – Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid and Brazil)
9th – Luka Modric (Real Madrid and Croatia)
10th – Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Norway)
11th – Heung-Min Son (Tottenham and South Korea)
12th – Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City and Algeria)
13th – Sebastian Haller (Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, and Ivory Coast)
Joint 14th – Fabinho (Liverpool and Brazil), Rafael Leao (AC Milan and Portugal)
16th – Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands)
Joint 17th – Luis Diaz (FC Porto, Liverpool, and Colombia), Casemiro (Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Brazil), Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina, Juventus, and Serbia)
20th – Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United and Portugal)
Read Also: World Cup 2022: Qatar Issues New Restrictions on Filming
