Ballon 2022 winners, rankings, and final awards result in Karim Benzema and Alexia Putellas taking the top prize

The waiting has come to an end. Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema took home his first Ballon d’Or on Monday 17th October. He became the second oldest person to be awarded the prize at the age of 34. He is also the oldest winner since Englishman Stanley Matthews who won the first Ballon d’Or in 1956 at age 41.

The Frenchman was awarded for an amazing 2021/22 season, in which his team was crowned champions in both the Spanish La Liga and the UEFA Champions League and he was crowned as the top-scoring player in both of the competitions. He also was the winner of the UEFA Nations League with France.

It was a foregone conclusion for several months that Benzema would be awarded the title of the top player in the world, as there was no player that could match his accomplishments and winnings. He scored 44 goals for Real Madrid and another six for France in 2021/22.

Despite missing during the last couple of months because of an ACL tear to her right knee, in July. Barcelona player Alexia patellas were the very first female to win the back-to-back Ballon d’Or trophies, fighting to hold back tears in her speech of acceptance. She acknowledged that she did not think that winning the Ballon d’Or would have been feasible after she missed winning the Euros as a member of Spain. Prior to the injury she took home the title of domestic league champion and took her team to win the UEFA Champions League final.

Another Barcelona player won the title of Under-21 Player of the Year title. Gavi was able to succeed his teammate Pedri for the honor of honoring the top young male player. Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois was named the goalkeeper of the year, taking the Yashin Trophy. Robert Lewandowski won the Gerd Muller Award as the best striker for the second time in a row after scoring more than 57 goals for his club and the country in 2021 and 2221.

Manchester City claimed the Club of the Year award with six total Ballon d’Or finalists named, and Sadio Mane won the award. He was honored with the very first Socrates Award designed to honor gestures of support by players. Mane was also second on the Ballon d’Or voting, falling just short of winning four trophies in the same year with Liverpool in the 2021/22 season and leading Senegal to the Africa Cup of Nations title and also securing the 2022 World Cup finals berth.

Following Lionel Messi’s controversial Ballon d’Or victory in 2021, The 2022 edition of this award witnessed the organizers of France Football make several changes in the way they vote which included a decrease in the number of voters from the media and changes in the selection criteria in judging players.

In the beginning, athletes were judged based on the European football season (August until July) instead of based on the year in which they played. In addition, achievements in the field of sports were not considered in the media’s 100 judges for the men’s trophy (one person from each of all the nations in the top 100 of FIFA ranking for men) and 50 in the trophy for females (top 50 nations in FIFA female rankings).

Ballon d’Or awards list

There were seven prizes given out on Monday evening at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris for the 66th edition of the Ballon d’Or.

This was the very first time it was the first time that Socrates Award was presented. In addition, the Gerd Muller Trophy and Club of the Year were presented 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 U-21 men’s player): Gavi (Barcelona)
• Yashin Trophy (Best men’s GK):Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
• Gerd Muller Trophy (Top scorer): Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
• Socrates Award (for player actions that show solidarity): Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich)
• “Club of the Year” (a club with the most Ballon d’Or nominees): Manchester City

Ballon d’Or final results (Men)

Karim Benzema was a five-time Frenchman and was the first Frenchman after Zinedine Zidane at the time of his 1998 win to be awarded the Ballon d’Or. In fact, it was Zidane who handed him the award in Paris.

2022 Ballon d’Or final results (Women)

2022 Kopa Trophy final rankings (Under-21)

2022 Yashin Trophy final rankings (Goalkeeper)

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.