Karim Benzema of Real Madrid has been named the 2022 Ballon D’Or winner after an awesome season in which he won the Champions League and La Liga.
As in previous years, the gala took place this year on October 17 at the Theatre Chatelet in Paris.
Since Kaka won the prestigious award in 2007, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have shared all of the accolades, with the exception of the ones won by Luka Modric in 2018 and the one in 2020, when France Football oddly felt that the criteria used to determine the winner were unfair due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Karim Benzema was the clear favorite to take home the illustrious award even before the ceremony.
The Madrid striker had the best chance of being named the world’s finest footballer because one of the innovations of this year’s Ballon d’Or was that journalists voted based on the player’s previous season’s performance rather than what he had displayed during the calendar year (as has been the case since the first edition).
A Ballon d’Or legend, Cristiano Ronaldo was on hand to witness Karim Benzema’s triumph at the award show. Note that Ronaldo has five Ballon d’Or to his name, four with Real Madrid (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017) and one with Manchester United in 2008.
Real Madrid won four Champions League championships thanks to Ronaldo’s goals contribution. He is two Ballon d’Or away from his career rival Lionel Messi, who has a record seven.
As for Benzema, he had to beat the likes of Sadio Mane of Bayern Munich, Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City, and Robert Lewandowski of FC Barcelona to win his first Ballon d’Or.
Karim Benzema
Karim Mostafa Benzema, a striker for Real Madrid of La Liga and the France national team, was born on December 19, 1987, in France. He is a professional football player.
Benzema is a playmaker and prolific attacker who is well-known for his finishing and playmaking. He is frequently recognized as one of the greatest strikers of all time.
He is the leading assist maker and second-highest goal scorer for Real Madrid all-time.
Benzema changed from a false nine to a lone striker in the wake of Ronaldo’s departure in 2018.
He was named to the La Liga Team of the Season in 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22, received the league’s Best Player award in 2019-20 and 2021-22, and also took home the Pichichi Trophy in 2021-22, all of which considerably elevated his reputation inside the Real Madrid club.
In addition to leading the team in goals and receiving Player of the Season honors, his outstanding career-high performances during Real Madrid’s victory in the 2021–22 Champions League have been recognized as one of the best individual campaigns in the competition’s history.
With Real Madrid, Benzema has amassed 23 trophies, including five Champions League titles, two Copa del Reys, and four La Liga championships.
And now the Frenchman has won the 2022 Ballon D’Or Award for the first time in his football career.
Karim Benzema is now the fifth French football player to win the Ballon d’Or.
