The wait is over. Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema won his first career Ballon d’Or on Monday, October 17, becoming the second oldest player to win the award at age 34 and the oldest since Englishman Stanley Matthews who won the very first Ballon d’Or in 1956 at age 41.
The Frenchman was rewarded for a magical 2021/22 season in which his team won both Spain’s La Liga and the UEFA Champions League and he finished as the top scorer in both competitions. He also won the UEFA Nations League with France.
It had been a foregone conclusion for months that Benzema would win the award as best player in the world given there was realistically no other player who came close to his achievements and trophy haul. He totaled 44 goals for Real Madrid and another six for France in 2021/22.
Despite sitting out the last few months due to an ACL tear in her left knee suffered in July, Barcelona star Alexia Putellas became the first woman to claim back-to-back Ballon d’Or trophies, fighting back tears in her acceptance speech. She admitted she didn’t think the Ballon d’Or would have been possible after missing out on the Euros with Spain. Before her injury, she won the domestic league title and led her team to the UEFA Champions League final.
Another Barcelona player took the Under-21 Player of the Year as Gavi succeeded teammate Pedri for the award crowning the best young men’s player. Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois was named goalkeeper of the Year, taking the Yashin Trophy.
Manchester City claimed the Club of the Year with six total Ballon d’Or finalists named, while Sadio Mane was recognized with the first Socrates Award designed to honor gestures of solidarity by players. Mane also finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting, falling just short of completing a quadruple of trophies with Liverpool and leading Senegal to an Africa Cup of Nations title as well as a World Cup finals berth.
In the wake of Lionel Messi’s controversial Ballon d’Or victory in 2021, the 2022 edition of the award saw organizers France Football make several changes to the voting process, including a reduction in the pool of media voters and modifications to the criteria used to judge players.
For the first time, finalists were judged on the European club season (August to July) and not based on the calendar year. Also, career achievements were no longer a factor to be weighed by the 100 media voters for the men’s award (one voter each from the top 100 nations in FIFA men’s rankings) and the 50 for the women’s trophy (top 50 nations in the FIFA women’s rankings).
Ballon d’Or awards list
There were a total of seven awards that were handed out on Monday. The Gerd Muller Trophy and Club of the Year were awarded for the first time in 2021.
Men’s Ballon d’Or (Player of the Year): Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Women’s Ballon d’Or (Player of the Year): Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Kopa Trophy (Best Under-21 men’s player): Gavi (Barcelona)
Yashin Trophy (Best men’s goalkeeper): Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Gerd Muller Trophy (best striker): Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
Socrates Award (recognizing player acts of solidarity): Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year (club with most Ballon d’Or nominees): Manchester City
Ballon d’Or final results (Men)
Karim Benzema became the fifth Frenchman and first since Zinedine Zidane in 1998 to win the Ballon d’Or. It was Zidane who presented him the trophy in Paris.
Final
Rank Name Position Club National Team
1. Karim Benzema FW Real Madrid France
2. Sadio Mane FW Liverpool /
Bayern Munich Senegal
3. Kevin De Bruyne MF Man City Belgium
4. Robert Lewandowski FW Bayern Munich /
Barcelona Poland
5. Mohamed Salah FW Liverpool Egypt
6. Kylian Mbappe FW PSG France
7. Thibaut Courtois GK Real Madrid Belgium
8. Vinicius Jr. FW Real Madrid Brazil
9. Luka Modric MF Real Madrid Croatia
10. Erling Haaland FW Man City Norway
11. Son Heung-min FW Tottenham South Korea
12. Riyad Mahrez FW Man City Algeria
13. Sebastien Haller FW Ajax /
B. Dortmund Ivory Coast
14. Fabinho MF Liverpool Brazil
Rafael Leao FW AC Milan Portugal
16. Virgil van Dijk DF Liverpool Netherlands
17. Casemiro MF Real Madrid /
Man United Brazil
Dusan Vlahovic FW Fiorentina /
Juventus Serbia
Luis Diaz FW Porto /
Liverpool Colombia
20. Cristiano Ronaldo FW Man United Portugal
21. Harry Kane FW Tottenham England
22. Trent Alexander-Arnold DF Liverpool England
Phil Foden FW Man City England
Bernardo Silva MF Man City Portugal
25. Joshua Kimmich MF Bayern Munich Germany
Mike Maignan GK AC Milan France
Antonio Rudiger DF Chelsea /
Real Madrid Germany
Joao Cancelo DF Man City Portugal
Christopher Nkunku FW RB Leipzig France
Darwin Nunez FW Benfica /
Liverpool Uruguay
2022 Ballon d’Or final results (Women)
Final
Rank Name Position Club National Team
1. Alexia Putellas MF Barcelona Spain
2. Beth Mead FW Arsenal England
3. Sam Kerr FW Chelsea Australia
4. Lena Oberdorf MF VfL Wolfsburg Germany
5. Aitana Bonmati MF Barcelona Spain
6. Alexandra Popp FW VfL Wolfsburg Germany
7. Ada Hegerberg FW Lyon Norway
8. Wendie Renard DF Lyon France
9. Catarina Macario MF/FW Lyon USA
10. Lucy Bronze DF Manchester City
(now Barcelona) England
11. Vivianne Miedema FW Arsenal Netherlands
12. Christiane Endler GK Lyon Chile
13. Alex Morgan FW Orlando Pride /
San Diego Wave USA
14; Selma Bacha DF Lyon France
15. Millie Bright DF Chelsea England
16. Marie-Antoinette Katoto FW PSG France
17. Asisat Oshoala FW Barcelona Nigeria
18. Trinity Rodman FW Washington Spirit USA
19. Fridolina Rolfo FW Barcelona Sweden
20. Kadidiatou Diani FW PSG France
2022 Kopa Trophy final rankings (Under-21)
Final
Rank Name Position Club National Team
1. Gavi MF Barcelona Spain
2. Eduardo Camavinga MF Real Madrid France
3. Jamal Musiala MF Bayern Munich Germany
4. Jude Bellingham MF Borussia Dortmund England
5. Nuno Mendes DF PSG Portugal
6. Josko Gvardiol DF RB Leipzig Croatia
Ryan Gravernberch MF Ajax Netherlands
8. Bukayo Saka FW Arsenal England
9. Karim Adeyemi FW Borussia Dortmund Germany
10. Florian Wirtz MF Bayer Leverkusen Germany
2022 Yashin Trophy final rankings (Goalkeeper)
Final
Rank Name Position Club National Team
1. Thibaut Courtois GK Real Madrid Belgium
2. Alisson Becker GK Liverpool Brazil
3. Ederson GK Manchester City Brazil
4. Edouard Mendy GK Chelsea Senegal
5. Mike Maignan GK AC Milan France
6. Kevin Trapp GK Eintracht Frankfurt Germany
7. Manuel Neuer GK Bayern Munich Germany
8. Jan Oblak GK Atletico Madrid Slovenia
9. Yassine Bounou GK Sevilla Morocco
10. Hugo Lloris GK Tottenham Hotspur France
