Karim Benzema has become the fifth Frenchman and the first in 24 years to win the Ballon d’Or Award in a ceremony held on Monday night.
At 34, he is the oldest winner since Stanley Matthews in 1956.
The Real Madrid striker picked up the Golden Ball at the annual ceremony in Paris following his superb 2021-22 season for both club and country.
He is also the first French winner of the Ballon D’Or since Zinedine Zidane – who presented him the award – in 1998.
“It makes me really proud,” said Benzema. “All the work I did, I never gave up. It was a childhood dream like all kids [have]. I had two motivations in my life – Zidane and Ronaldo. I’ve always had this dream in my mind that anything is possible.
“There was a difficult period where I wasn’t in the French team, but I never stopped working hard nor gave up. I always kept my head, concentrated on playing football and I’m really proud of my journey here. It wasn’t easy, it was a difficult time. It was hard for my family as well. To be here today, for the first time for me, I’m happy and pleased with my work and I keep going.
“I want to thank my team-mates, whether it’s Real Madrid or the national team. My coach, thanks to him as well. The Real Madrid president as well.
“I have a lot of people to thank. It’s an individual prize, but it’s a collective one because everyone has played a role.”
Benzema was rewarded for the lead role he played in Madrid winning both the Champions League and La Liga, while he also lifted the Nations League trophy with France back in October 2021.
The French Star was just one of 30 nominees for the most prestigious individual award in world football.
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.
Senegal’s Sadio Mane was voted second with De Bruyne who is currently playing in England, with the Manchester City midfielder finishing third.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was voted as the fifth-best player, ahead of PSG’s Kylian Mbappe and Champions League match-winner Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid.
Manchester City forward Erling Haaland finished in 10th place, just one place ahead of Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son and two over current club team-mate Riyad Mahrez.
Liverpool duo Fabinho and Virgil van Dijk finished in 14th and 16th place respectively, while Luis Diaz, Casemiro, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Darwin Nunez and Joao Cancelo made up the rest of the 25-man shortlist.
The women’s award went to Barcelona star Alexia Putellas, who pipped runner-up Beth Mead of England to the prize after guiding the Catalan club to the Spanish title with a 100 per cent points tally.
Manchester City were named Club of the Year at the Paris ceremony after winning their fourth Premier League title in five seasons, beating runners-up Liverpool and Real Madrid to the prize.
“We haven’t won the Champions League yet, but we are proud of how we play as a team,” said De Bruyne who picked up the award for the club.
Barcelona midfielder Gavi was named the winner of the Kopa trophy, awarded to the best player under the age of 21, with England duo Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka finishing in fourth and eighth position respectively.
Former Liverpool winger Mane was the winner of the inaugural Socrates award, a humanitarian prize, for giving back to his native Senegal.
Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski, who like Benzema is also 34, was given the Gerd Muller award given to the best striker, after a superb season for Bayern Munich last term in which he scored 50 goals in 46 matches.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was given the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper prize, after his man-of-the-match performance in the Champions League final, against Liverpool, won the Spanish giants the most coveted club prize in European football.
See full list below:
Ballon d’Or winner: Karim Benzema
Women’s Ballon d’Or winner: Alexia Putellas
Yashin trophy: Thibaut Courtois
Kopa trophy: Gavi
Gerd Muller Trophy: Robert Lewandowski
Club of the year: Manchester City
Socrates Award: Sadio Mane
