In a ceremony held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, Karim Benzema received his first Ballon d’Or in acknowledgment of his career-best 2021–22 season.
After leading the Spanish giants to a LaLiga and Champions League double last season, Real Madrid captain Karim Benzema was a strong favorite for the top prize on Monday.
A new format saw the Ballon d’Or awarded based on performances over a regular season rather than the calendar year for the first time prior to a November–December World Cup.
In any situation, France international Benzema would have been a front-runner.
After scoring 44 goals in 46 games and winning a sixth European championship in the 2021–22 season, Karim Benzema was the clear winner.
Sadio Mane, a former Liverpool forward who currently plays for Bayern Munich, finished second, followed by Manchester City’s midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. Robert Lewandowski, a forward who played his final season for Bayern Munich before moving on to Barcelona finished fourth.
The Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah was ranked fifth, while prolific France international Kylian Mbappe who also plays for Paris Saint-Germain club was ranked sixth.
Meanwhile, Lewandowski received the Gerd Muller Award, given to the best striker, before Benzema received the Ballon d’Or from Zinedine Zidane, his former Madrid manager.
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Lewandowski scored more goals overall (50), but Karim Benzema came close with 10 goals, matching Cristiano Ronaldo’s single-season record of 10.
Though Vinicius Junior scored the game-winning goal against Liverpool in the final, Benzema had already cemented his position as the finest player in the world with hat-tricks against Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.
Last season, Benzema added 15 assists to his 59-goal participation, narrowly missing Mbappe’s record of 60 for all of Europe (39 goals, 21 assists).
Even though Benzema had received 10 prior Ballon d’Or nominations, he didn’t make the top 10 until 2021.
AWARDS ROUND-UP
- Kopa Trophy – Gavi of Barcelona
- Club of the Year – Manchester City
- Socrates Award – Sadio Mane
- Gerd Muller Trophy – Robert Lewandowski
- Yashin Trophy – Thibaut Courtois
- Ballon d’Or Feminin – Alexia Putellas
- Ballon d’Or – Karim Benzema
Here is the list of top best male footballers of 2022:
TOP 25 BEST MALE FOOTBALLERS
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
- Sadio Mane (Liverpool – moved to Bayern Munich)
- Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich – moved to Barcelona)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
- Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
- Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur)
- Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
- Sebastien Haller (Ajax / Dortmund)
- Rafael Leao (AC Milan).
- Fabinho (Liverpool)
- Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool)
- Luis Diaz (Porto / Liverpool)
- Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina / Juventus)
- Casemiro (Real Madrid – moved to Manchester United)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus / Manchester United)
- Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
- Phil Foden (Manchester City)
- Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
- = Joao Cancelo (Manchester City). Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich). Mike Maignan (AC Milan). Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea / Real Madrid). Darwin Nunez (Benfica – moved to Liverpool). Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
