French striker Karim Benzema received the highest honour in world football when he was handed the 2022 Ballon d’Or Golden Ball in Paris, France, on Monday evening.
Karim Benzema awarded Golden Ball
The 34-year-old won his first-ever Ballon d’Or, marking a glorious conclusion to a phenomenal performance in the 2021/2022 season, where he notched 44 goals and 15 assists in 46 appearances for Real Madrid in all competitions.
His deadly precision was a crucial factor in Los Blancos’ course to victory in the 2021/2022 UEFA Champions League and La Liga campaign. At the age of 34, Benzema is the oldest recipient of the Ballon d’Or Golden Ball since Stanley Matthews’ win in 1956.
Here’s the epic moment when French football icon Zinedine Zidane handed Benzema the Golden Ball, making him the fifth Frenchman to receive the coveted award.
Other notable names on the 2022 Ballon d’Or rankings included Senegal international and 2022 CAF Player of the Year Sadio Mane, who was the runner-up at this season’s ceremony, followed by Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne.
Erling Haaland, whose season thus far may hold strong claims for next year’s Ballon d’Or, ranked 10th ahead of Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-Min.
Cristiano Ronaldo, for the first time in his illustrious career, ranked 20th, and his equal, Lionel Messi, was not even included in the Top 25.
Here is the complete list of the 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)
- 10. Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
- 9. Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- 8. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
- 7. Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
- 6. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
- 5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- 4. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich – moved to Barcelona)
- 3. Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
- 2. Sadio Mane (Liverpool – moved to Bayern Munich)
- 1. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)