Ballon d'Or

The Real Madrid forward won the voting after a season when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were nowhere in sight. Barcelona's Alexia Putellas repeated as ...

That he has had to wait so long to flourish on his own accord is a measure of the height of the bar set by Messi and Ronaldo, and of the challenge of thriving in an era marked by twin greats. Benzema may not have been the decisive player in the Champions League final, an honor that fell to his teammate Vinícius Júnior, but he had unquestionably been the defining figure in Real’s journey to the final in Paris. When that advantage seemed to have been wasted in the return fixture, it was Benzema who lifted Real Madrid once more, scoring the extra-time goal that sealed its place in the semifinal. Benzema joined Real Madrid in the same summer as Ronaldo, though to rather less fanfare. And yet that assessment risks not only turning Benzema’s triumph into a subplot in a story of Messi and Ronaldo’s fall, but also ignoring the context for his victory. Benzema did not win the Ballon d’Or because Messi and Ronaldo finally fell to earth. (Benzema’s Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric was the other exception, in 2018.) It is the first time since 2006 that neither man has at least been on the podium. The blunt measures, of course, are the trophies — his fifth Champions League, another Spanish title — and the goals: 27 in La Liga, 15 in just a dozen games in Europe. Ferré hoped that measure — clearly directed at what might be regarded as legacy voters for Messi and Ronaldo — would make the Ballon d’Or an “open competition, rather than a preserve.” It is, after all, only the second time since 2008 that a player other than Messi or Ronaldo has been anointed as the best on the planet. (Ferré, more than a little disparagingly, said this new “elite” panel represented the “real connoisseurs” of the game.) But the tournament is a feeling that money can’t buy,

Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema are up for the top prize, while Bukayo Saka has been nominated for the Kopa Trophy.

Meanwhile, last season saw Bukayo score 11 goals in 38 Premier League games for us, scooping our Player of the Year award for a second consecutive year in the process. Like Beth, Germany and Wolfsburg goalscorer Alexandra Popp also netted six times at Euro 2022, while Chelsea's Sam Kerr won the WSL and Women's FA Cup and won the domestic Golden Boot. Copyright 2022 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Beth had a career-best WSL season as she registered 11 goals, eight assists, and a staggering 72 chances – over 20 more than anyone else in the league. However, this is Viv's third Ballon d'Or nomination. It was won last year by Barcelona's Pedri.

Karim Benzema won the men's Ballon d'Or for the first time on Monday after a brilliant season with Real Madrid capped by the Champions League and Spanish ...

A panel of international journalists chose the winners. Leading an attack that also included Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, Benzema played a crucial role last season to drive Madrid to a record-extending 14th European title, and his fifth since he joined from Lyon in 2009. He scored 44 times with Madrid, including 15 in Europe's top competition, and equaled Raul Gonzalez as the club's second-highest scorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

Spanish player Alexia Putellas won the women's Ballon d'Or for the second straight year on Monday following another outstanding season with Barcelona while ...

Karim Benzema’s 2021/22 season by numbers:

👕 46 appearances
⚽ 44 goals
🅰️ 15 Assists

⚽ 15 UCL goals
⚽⚽⚽ 3 Tie winning goals in the knockout stages
🎩🎩 2 UCL hat tricks

Instrumental to Real Madrid’s success last campaign. Awarded by France Football magazine, the Ballon d'Or has been given out to men every year since 1956 when Stanley Matthews won. Leading an attack that also included Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, Benzema played a crucial role last season to drive Madrid to a record-extending 14th European title, and his fifth since he joined from Lyon in 2009. This is the Golden Ball of the people." She has been sidelined since July after injuring her left knee and undergoing surgery on the eve of the Women's European Championship. "When I got injured I didn't think I'd be here today, but it makes me proud to get recompense for all that hard work," she said.

The Real Madrid striker and Barcelona women's star were crowned the best players in the world by France Football.

(Rodman was 18th, Morgan 13th, Macario ninth in the voting). [left out of the running](https://www.si.com/soccer/2022/08/12/ballon-dor-shortlist-messi-benzema-morgan-rodman-macario-uswnt) for the first time since 2005, failing to make France Football’s 30-man shortlist. It also announced that voting would take the seasonal calendar (roughly July to July) into account rather than the calendar year. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid; France) Fabinho (Liverpool; Brazil) Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid; Brazil) Casemiro (Real Madrid; Brazil) After Pedri won in 2021, the honors went to Gavi in 2022. Meanwhile, the U.S. Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, finished 20th, his lowest result in the voting. The magazine confirmed that voting would be based first on individual performance, followed by team performance and fair play, while a player’s reputation and performance from past years would not influence voting. She scored 42 goals and added 22 assists in another dominant campaign before tearing her ACL on the eve of the Women’s European Championship this past summer.

The ceremony starts at 19:30 UK time. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have won 12 of the last 13 Ballon d'Ors - with Real Madrid's Luka Modric winning as the ...

Darwin Nunez (Benfica - moved to Liverpool). =17: Luis Diaz (Porto / Liverpool). Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina / Juventus). Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea / Real Madrid). Tomorrow hopefully he can win the Ballon d'Or and we are going to congratulate him because a little bit of that Ballon is also ours." Want to know how the Ballon d'Or works for this year? 'I want to firstly thank my teammates, the club Real Madrid, to be part of this amazing team," he says. A shame that voting closed before Foden's hat-trick against Manchester United a fortnight ago. =25: Joao Cancelo (Manchester City). In third place, Champions League and La Liga winners Real Madrid. Mike Maignan (AC Milan). Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich).

Putellas has become the first female player to win the Ballon dOr for two years in a row; Arsenal and England forward Beth Mead was voted as runner-up after ...

"Without my team-mates this would not have been possible," said Putellas after picking up the award. England's Beth Mead was the runner-up for the award after guiding the Lionesses to the European Championships title, with Chelsea's Sam Kerr having to settle for third. Putellas has become the first female player to win the Ballon d'Or for two years in a row; Arsenal and England forward Beth Mead was voted as runner-up after guiding the Lionesses to European Championships glory; Chelsea's Sam Kerr finished third

Karim Benzema was awarded the 2022 men's Ballon d'Or on Monday after leading Real Madrid to a Champions League and LaLiga double.

He succeeds Barca teammate [Pedri](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/250465/Pedri), last year's winner. [Bayern Munich](/soccer/team?id=132)'s [Sadio Mane](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/169797/Sadio-Mané) and [Manchester City](/soccer/team?id=382)'s [Kevin de Bruyne](http://www.espnfc.com/socer/player/_/id/134947/kevin-de-bruyne), who came in second and third, respectively. Ballon d'Or organisers added a humanitarian prize named after the late Brazil midfielder Socrates. [Robert Lewandowski](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/125824/Robert-Lewandowski) won the Gerd Muller award for the best striker of the year, and Madrid's [Thibaut Courtois](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/134283/Thibaut-Courtois) won the Lev Yashin for best goalkeeper. [Borussia Dortmund](/soccer/team?id=124)'s [Jude Bellingham](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/291281/Jude-Bellingham) and [Bayern Munich](/soccer/team?id=132)'s [Jamal Musiala](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/303821/Jamal-Musiala). It's a lot of work; I never gave up and I kept that dream in my head. It's been difficult for me and that just makes me stronger mentally. "I had two role models in my life: Zizou [Zinedine Zidane] and [Brazil legend] Ronaldo. "I'm really proud seeing this prize, it's been my dream since I was a kid. [Gavi](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/323702/Gavi) won the Kopa Trophy, the award presented to the best player under age 21. "It's been difficult for me. PSG striker [Kylian Mbappe](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/231388/Kylian-Mbappé) came in sixth, while [Manchester United](/soccer/team?id=360) forward [Cristiano Ronaldo](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/22774/Cristiano-Ronaldo) was 20th.

The results are in from the 2022 Ballon d'Or. Karim Benzema may have won the prize, but how did everyone fare in the voting?

- =14: Fabinho (Liverpool) He finished in joint 17th. Joao Cancelo was joint 25th. Robert Lewandowski - now a Barcelona player - was once again nominated after scoring more goals than he had appearances in both the Bundesliga and Champions League for Bayern Munich last season; 48 goals in 44 matches. He came fourth. Karim Benzema may have won the prize, but how did all 30 players nominated fare in the voting?