FRANCE Footballer and Real Madrid striker, Karim Benzema has won the 2022 Ballon d’or award.
The Ballon d’Or award honours the male player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year, based on voting by football journalists.
Benzema was awarded this evening at the 66th ceremony at Theatre du Chatelet, Paris.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have won 12 of the last 13 Ballon d’Ors – with Real Madrid’s Luka Modric winning as the sole outlier in 2018. However, Messi was not nominated for this year’s award.
Benzema beat nine other contenders nominated for the 2022 award.
The French footballer fought the likes of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane, Paris Saint German’s Kylian Mbappe, Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne to get the award.
Benzema was awarded for his iconic performance last season where he scored 44 goals in 46 appearances during the 2021-2022 season, including finishing with 15 goals in the Champions League – the competition’s top scorer – as well as reestablishing himself in France’s international side.
“It makes me really proud. It was a childhood dream and I never gave up. Everything is possible. There was a period I was not in the French team but I never gave up, I just kept my head playing football. I am really proud of my journey,” he said when he received the award.
He extended his thanks to his team mates at Real Madrid, the President of the club, Florentino Perez, and his supporters, pledging to do more.
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