Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has been crowned the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner after enjoying an incredible calendar year.
The France international beat stars like Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski, Sadio Mane, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to land the prestigious Golden Ball.
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He enjoyed a remarkable 2021-22 campaign at Santiago Bernabeu, with a stunning 44-goal haul helping Los Blancos to La Liga and Champions League titles.
The 34-year-old found the target on 27 occasions in the Spanish top flight last season and 15 times in European competition.
Benzema has filled the void created by Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure in 2018 while also taking on captaincy duties following Sergio Ramos’ move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Benzema is the first French winner of the most prestigious individual prize in football since Zinedine Zidane in 1998.
The 34-year-old, who also won the UEFA Nations League with France, succeeds Lionel Messi with the Argentine not nominated this year after claiming the prize for the seventh time in 2021.
Benzema pushed Mane into second place, although the Bayern Munich and Senegal star did have his off-field work recognised as he was given a new award named after former Brazil star Socrates.
De Bruyne of Manchester City and Belgium was third, with Barcelona and Poland star Lewandowski coming fourth.
Winning the award, which is organised by France Football magazine, caps a remarkable career revival for Benzema, who was frozen out of the France team for five and a half years because of his involvement in a blackmail scandal over a sex tape involving teammate Mathieu Valbuena.
He was later handed a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 75,000 euros ($73,848) for his involvement in the affair.
However, he returned to the national team for last year’s European Championship and will now go to the World Cup in Qatar with France next month.
He will turn 35 on December 19, the day after the World Cup final.
Compared by his Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to “a fine wine”, Benzema has got better with age and is the oldest winner of the Ballon d’Or since the very first, Stanley Matthews in 1956.
The former Lyon striker is also the fifth Frenchman to win the prize, with Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini and Jean-Pierre Papin all getting their hands on the trophy before Zidane’s victory in 1998.
The award was previously based on a player’s performance over the course of the calendar year.
But the format has changed, with the prize now based on a player’s record over the last season.
