Karim Benzema has won the 2022 Ballon D’Or no less than 13 years after signing for Real Madrid. Check out Ballon d or 2022 rankings.
Ballon d’Or 2022 : Rankings | Nominees | Who won
Karim Benzema has won the Ballon d’Or, becoming only the fifth Frenchman to do so and at 34 years old is the oldest winner since Stanley Matthews in 1956.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had won 12 of the last 13 Ballon d’Ors – with Real Madrid’s Luka Modric winning as the sole outlier in 2018 – but Messi was not even nominated for the 2022 award. Ronaldo finished 20th this year.
Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas has won the Ballon d’Or Feminin for the second year in a row.
Arsenal strike Beth Mead finished in second while Chelsea’s Sam Kerr came in third. Mead’s Lionesses team-mates Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze finished 15th and 10th respectively.
Ballon d or 2022 Rankings
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. Here’s the list of Ballon d or 2022 rankings :
Men’s Rankings
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 |
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.
Women’s Rankings
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 |
That’s the end of the show. It was a night full of emotion, beginning with the Andrea Bocelli performance to start the night.
Nominees
The 66th Ballon d’Or award ceremony will see the awarding of seven prestigious awards with both men’s and women’s players of the years to be recognised along with the Kopa Trophy (for the best performing player under the age of 21) and the Yashin Trophy (for the best goalkeeper).
- Thibaut Courtois – Real Madrid
- Rafael Leao – AC Milan
- Christopher Nkunku – RB Leipzig
- Mohamed Salah – Liverpool
- Joshua Kimmich – Bayern Munich
- Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool
- Vinicius Junior – Real Madrid
- Bernardo Silva – Manchester City
- Luis Diaz – Porto/Liverpool
- Robert Lewandowski – Bayern Munich/Barcelona
- Riyad Mahrez – Manchester City
- Casemiro – Real Madrid/Manchester United
- Son Heung-min – Tottenham Hotspur
- Fabinho – Liverpool
- Karim Benzema – Real Madrid
- Mike Maignan – AC Milan
- Harry Kane – Tottenham Hotspur
- Darwin Nunez – Benfica/Liverpool
- Phil Foden – Manchester City
- Sadio Mane – Liverpool/Bayern Munich
- Sebastien Haller – Ajax/Borussia Dortmund
- Luka Modric – Real Madrid
- Antonio Rudiger – Chelsea/Real Madrid
- Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United
- Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City
- Dusan Vlahovic – Fiorentina/Juventus
- Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool
- Joao Cancelo – Manchester City
- Kylian Mbappe – Paris Saint-Germain
- Erling Haaland – Borussia Dortmund/Manchester City
The newly named Muller Award (after legendary German striker Gerd Muller) will also be confirmed for the best striker, along with the Socrates Award marking the best social initiatives within the game along with the club of the year prize.
Who won Ballon d’Or 2022
Karim Benzema has won the 2022 Ballon D’Or no less than 13 years after signing for Real Madrid. It has not been an easy path for Benzema as he had to change his style of play and prove many of his doubters wrong along the way.
- Men’s Ballon d’Or award winner: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
- Women’s Ballon d’Or award winner: Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona Femeni)
- Club of the Year award: Manchester City
- Gerd Muller Award: Robert Lewandowski (at Bayern Munich in 21-22 season; now at FC Barcelona)
- Yachine Award: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
- Kopa Award: Gavi (FC Barcelona)
- Socrates Award: Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich)
Spanish international Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or for a second straight year, beating England’s European Championship winner Beth Mead and Australia’s Sam Kerr.