Ballon d'Or 2022

Ballon d'Or 2022

Benzema named 2022 Ballon d’Or

"Winning this trophy makes me proud and is a childhood dream come true," commented the Real Madrid captain.

Karim Benzema has been crowned as the top-performing player in world football in 2022. The Real Madrid skipper was recognised as the best player in the world and collected the Ballon d’Or in Paris. France Football, which awards the coveted prize, recognised his outstanding year at a ceremony at which our club was well represented in an expedition headed up by president Florentino Pérez. Benzema saw off competition from Mané, De Bruyne and Lewandowski (in that order) in voting that involved 180 international journalists, who cast their votes on the basis of the achievements of each player during the 2021/22 season.

Benzema collected the trophy from Zidane and commented: “It makes me proud to have this trophy in front of me. I remember when I was younger and all the hard work and training sessions. It was a dream I had as a child and I always had this award in my mind. I was motivated to win it because of two of my idols: Zidane and Ronaldo. It’s an award that every footballer has in mind. It’s very tough to win it, but not impossible. I don’t only think about scoring goals, but about having fun out on the pitch and helping my teammates.”

The Ballon d’Or award is a deserved reward for a highly successful year for Benzema. The Frenchman led Real Madrid to the club’s 14th European Cup crown (La Decimocuarta), a 35th LaLiga title and a 12th Spanish Super Cup, competitions in which he was the leading scorer with 15, 27 and two goals respectively. In addition, he also played a decisive role in helping France to Nations League glory, with the Real Madrid frontman netting one of his national team’s two goals in the final.

Courtois secures Yashin Trophy as best goalkeeper in 2022

"I want to thank my Real Madrid teammates, it’s a pleasure to be part of this amazing team," he stated.

Thibaut Courtois was awarded the Yashin Trophy as the top-performing goalkeeper in 2022 by France France at the Ballon d’Or ceremony held at Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet. The Real Madrid glovesman came out ahead of Bounou, Alisson, Ederson, Maignan, Mendy, Neuer, Oblak, Trapp and Lloris in the voting.

After collecting the award, the Belgian commented: “It’s an honour to have won this trophy, given the great men’s and women’s goalkeepers here. I want to thank my Real Madrid teammates. It’s a pleasure to be part of this amazing team, which enjoyed a superb season.”

The Belgian goalkeeper enjoyed an outstanding season that yielded European Cup, LaLiga and Spanish Super Cup silverware and the Player of the Match award in the Champions League final and saw him named amongst the 30-strong Ballon d’Or shortlist and ultimately claim a seventh-place finish.