2022 Ballon d'Or Final Rankings: Karim Benzema Finishes 19 Places Above Cristiano Ronaldo
Karim Benzema was named the 2022 Ballon d'Or winner on Monday after producing the best season of his career.
The 34-year-old scored 44 goals in 46 games for Real Madrid in an incredible campaign that ended in domestic and Champions League glory.
Benzema is the first Frenchman to win the Ballon d'Or since Zinedine Zidane in 1998.
Benzema topped the vote by a landslide margin, finishing way ahead of former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane in second place.
Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne finished third.
Three English players made the top 30 after all the votes had been counted.
Tottenham striker Harry Kane finished in 21st place, ahead of Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and Man City midfielder Phil Foden in joint 22nd.
One place ahead of Kane was five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
Karim Benzema pictured at the 2022 Ballon d'Or awards ceremony in Paris
IMAGO/PanoramiC/JBAutissier
At 34, Benzema is the oldest winner of the Ballon d'Or since 1956 when 41-year-old Stanley Matthews was crowned.
Ronaldo was 32 when he won his most recent Ballon d'Or in 2017.
2022 Ballon d'Or Final Rankings
| Rank | Player | Club(s) in 2021/22 season | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | France |
2 | Sadio Mane | Liverpool | Senegal |
3 | Kevin De Bruyne | Man City | Belgium |
4 | Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Poland |
5 | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | Egypt |
6 | Kylian Mbappe | PSG | France |
7 | Thibaut Courtois | Real Madrid | Belgium |
8 | Vinicius Junior | Real Madrid | Brazil |
9 | Luka Modric | Real Madrid | Croatia |
10 | Erling Haaland | Dortmund | Norway |
11 | Son Heung-min | Tottenham | South Korea |
12 | Riyad Mahrez | Man City | Algeria |
13 | Sebastien Haller | Ajax | Ivory Coast |
=14 | Rafael Leao | AC Milan | Portugal |
=14 | Fabinho | Liverpool | Brazil |
16 | Virgil van Dijk | Liverpool | Holland |
=17 | Casemiro | Real Madrid | Brazil |
=17 | Dusan Vlahovic | Fiorentina and Juventus | Serbia |
=17 | Luis Diaz | Porto and Liverpool | Colombia |
20 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus and Man United | Portugal |
21 | Harry Kane | Tottenham | England |
=22 | Bernardo Silva | Man City | Portugal |
=22 | Trent Alexander-Arnold | Liverpool | England |
=22 | Phil Foden | Man City | England |
=25 | Joshua Kimmich | Bayern Munich | Germany |
=25 | Mike Maignan | AC Milan | France |
=25 | Antonio Rudiger | Chelsea | Germany |
=25 | Joao Cancelo | Man City | Portugal |
=25 | Christopher Nkunku | RB Leipzig | France |
=25 | Darwin Nunez | Benfica | Uruguay |
