Karim Benzema received the 2022 Ballon d’Or award on Monday night at a ceremony in Paris. During his outstanding 2021-22 season, he assisted Real Madrid in winning the Champions League and LaLiga twice.
Benzema, 34, set a career high with 27 LaLiga goals and led all scorers with 15 Champions League goals, including hat tricks against Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.
He finished ahead of Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane and Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne, who finished second and third, respectively. Kylian Mbappe of PSG finished sixth, while Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United finished twentieth.
“I’m really proud seeing this prize, it’s been my dream since I was a kid. I grew up with this in my head, and after that I had the motivation,” Benzema said.
“I had two role models in my life: Zizou [Zinedine Zidane] and [Brazil legend] Ronaldo. It’s a lot of work; I never gave up and I kept that dream in my head. Anything is possible.
“It’s been difficult for me. There was a time when I wasn’t playing for the national team, but I didn’t give up. It’s been difficult for me and that just makes me stronger mentally. I’m really happy with my work.”
At a ceremony held at the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris, the France international won the honor for the first time in his career.
He is the first Real Madrid player to win the prize since Luka Modric in 2018 and the first Frenchman to do so since 1998 honoree Zinedine Zidane, who gave the trophy to Karim Benzema.
“I’d like to thank my teammates at Real Madrid and the national team, my president [Florentino Perez] who is like family to me, and also the Lyon academy and president [Jean Michel] Aulas, thanks to him I fulfilled my dream of playing for Real Madrid,” Benzema added.
Lionel Messi won in 2019 and 2021, and the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the award from being given in 2020.
Karim Benzema won his first Ballon d’Or prize after a brilliant 2021–22 season. Benzema has won five Champions League titles, four LaLiga championships, two Copas del Reys, four UEFA Super Cups, and four Spanish Supercopas in his 13 years at Real Madrid.
When Real Madrid beat PSG, Chelsea, and Manchester City in the Champions League finals to win the club’s 14th European Cup, Benzema received high accolades for his performance. He scored 10 goals during those victories.
After a six-year sabbatical, he returned to the France national team in 2021 to help them win the UEFA Nations League.
