Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema wins’ men’s Ballon d’Or for first time
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema is the 2022 winner of the men’s Ballon d’Or, after managing 44 goals in 46 matches in the previous season as the team carried Champions League, LaLiga along with the Spanish and European Super Cups titles.
Benzema is the fifth Frenchman to win the crown after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin and Zinedine Zidane, who was crowned in 1998, the year France won its first World Cup.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had won 12 of the last 13 Ballon d’Ors with Real Madrid’s Luka Modric winning in 2018.
Messi was not nominated for this years but his longest standing rival Manchester united Ronaldo finished 20th this year.
At 34 years old he becomes the oldest Ballon D’Or winner since Stanley Matthews won the first edition of the prize in 1956.
Bayern Munich and the Senegal national team forward Sadio Mane came in second and Manchester city’s Kevin De Bruyne coming in third.
Also at the Mondays Paris footballing extravaganza Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas won the Ballon d’Or Feminine for the second year in a row.
Arsenal strike Beth Mead finished in second while Chelsea’s Sam Kerr came in third.
Mead’s Lionesses team-mates Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze finished 15th and 10th respectively.
This year’s Ballon d’Or Feminin was awarded for performance in the 2021-22 season, rather than the calendar year.
