Ballon d’Or results LIVE: Winners revealed as Karim Benzema beats Sadio Mane and Kevin De Bruyne to award
Alexia Putellas won the Ballon d’Or Feminin for the second year in a row while Thibaut Courtois, Sadio Mane, Robert Lewandowski and Gavi also won prizes
Karim Benzema has won the men’s Ballon d’Or, becoming just the second player outside of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to be awarded the prize in the past 15 years. Benzema won the trophy after leading Real Madrid to the LaLiga and Champions League double last season and scoring a remarkable 44 goals in 46 appearances for the Spanish club.
Benzema finished ahead of Sadio Mane, Kevin De Bruyne and Robert Lewandowski at the Paris ceremony to crown a sensational year for the France international, as he followed his Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric by breaking through Messi and Ronaldo’s dominance of football’s greatest individual prize.
Earlier, Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas became the first two-time winner of the Ballon d’Or Feminin after taking back-to-back awards. England and Arsenal forward Beth Mead, who was the top scorer at Euro 2020, finished second, ahead of the Chelsea striker Sam Kerr. Barcelona midfielder Gavi won the Kopa Trophy for best young player while Thibaut Courtois won the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper.
Karim Benzema wins the Ballon d’Or
Karim Benzema has won the men’s Ballon d’Or, becoming just the second player outside of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to be awarded the prize in the past 15 years. Benzema won the trophy after leading Real Madrid to the LaLiga and Champions League double last season and scoring a remarkable 44 goals in 46 appearances for the Spanish club.
Benzema finished ahead of Sadio Mane and Kevin De Bruyne at the Paris ceremony to crown a sensational year for the France international, as he followed his Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric by breaking through Messi and Ronaldo’s dominance of football’s greatest individual prize.
The 34-year-old is also the oldest winner of the Ballon d’Or since Stanley Matthews won the inaugural award in 1956, as well as the first French winner of the prize since Zinedine Zidane in 1998. Zidane, who managed Benzema across two spells at Real Madrid, was in Paris to present the striker with the award.
Karim Benzema wins men’s Ballon d’Or as Alexia Putellas retains women’s award
The Real Madrid captain was awarded the prize by his idol Zinedine Zidane, who was the last French player to win the Ballon d’Or in 1998
Ballon d’Or: Full men’s rankings
1st: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
2nd: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
3rd: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
4th: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
5th: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
6th: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
7th: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
8th: Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
9th: Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
10th: Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
11th: Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)
12th: Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
13th: Sébastien Haller (Ajax)
=14th: Fabinho (Liverpool)
=14th: Rafael Leão (Milan)
16th: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
= 17th: Casemiro (Real Madrid)
= 17th: Dušan Vlahović (Fiorentina, Juventus)
= 17th: Luis Díaz (Porto, Liverpool)
20th: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Manchester United)
21st: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
= 22nd: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
= 22nd: Phil Foden (Manchester City)
= 22nd: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
= 25th: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
= 25th: Mike Maignan (Milan)
= 25th: Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea)
= 25th: João Cancelo (Manchester City)
= 25th: Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
= 25th: Darwin Núñez (Benfica)
Ballon d’Or: Karim Benzema wins the Ballon d’Or!
This is a great way to illustrate Benzema’s rise. After years of playing the supporting role, and not even getting nominated when Real Madrid were among the best teams in Europe, this is quite the jump.
Ballon d’Or: Karim Benzema wins the Ballon d’Or!
There are emotional scenes as Benzema invites his mother and then son onto the stage in Paris.
It’s a special night not just for Benzema but French football as he becomes the fifth player from the country to win the award.
Ballon d’Or: Karim Benzema wins the Ballon d’Or!
The top four of the rankings as confirmed, with Sadio Mane in second place, Kevin De Bruyne third and Robert Lewandowski fourth.
It comes as a video tribute is played for Benzema, with praise from Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho.
“He keeps getting better with age,” Ancelotti says of his captain.
Incredibly, at 34 Benzema is the oldest Ballon d’Or winner since Stanley Matthews won the first Ballon d’Or in 1956.
Ballon d’Or: Karim Benzema wins the Ballon d’Or!
Zidane opens the envelope and declares the winner of the Ballon d’Or to be... Karim Benzema!
A special moment for Benzema, who completes a stunning year by becoming the first French winner of the Ballon d’Or since Zidane in 1998.
“Karim, Karim, Karim,” cry the crowd in Paris!
“This prize in front of me makes me proud of the work I did from a young age.” Benzema says. “I had the motivation, I had two role models in my life, Zidane and Ronaldo. I always had this dream in my mind that anything was possible.
“There were difficult periods where I wasn’t in the French team but I kept working hard. I’m really proud of my journey here. It wasn’t easy, it was difficult. It was hard for my family as well. To be here today, I’m just really happy. I would like to thank my team-mates.”
Ballon d’Or
But now we are onto the final prize, which will be awarded by the last French player to win the Ballon d’Or: Zinedine Zidane.
Ballon d’Or - Manchester City win Club of the Year
And now it is time for the final prize of the evening. A former winner in 2000, Luis Figo will present the 2022 award. “The King of Dribbling”, Drogba declares.
Oh, not quite there yet. First we will have the ‘Club of the Year’ award, and it is handed to Manchester City after winning their fourth Premier League title. Bit of a surprise as I expected Real Madrid to win that.
City had six nominees for the Ballon d’Or and beat Liverpool and Real Madrid to the honour, which is collected by Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson.
De Bruyne: “I’ve been there for eight years and we try to play in the right way, to play in a way that would inspire kids to play. We have won a lot, not quite the Champions League just yet, but we are proud with how we play.”
Ballon d’Or
So that leaves just four names for the men’s award: Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, Kevin De Bruyne and Robert Lewandowski.
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