Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – French Karim Benzema, Real Madrid’s player, won the Golden Ball award from the French magazine “France Football” for the best football player in 2022, for the first time in his history.
Benzema (34 years) beat 29 candidates, most notably: Senegalese Sadio Mane, Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne, Poland’s Robert Lewandowski and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah.
The 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony was held at the Théâtre du Chatelet, on Monday evening, in the French capital, Paris.
The last French player to win the Ballon d’Or was Zinedine Zidane after the 1998 World Cup.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois won the “Yashen” award for the best goalkeeper in 2022, outperforming 9 other goalkeepers.
Spanish Javi, 18, a Barcelona player, won the “Cuba” award for the best young footballer of the year, beating 9 other players, including: Eduardo Camavinga, Good Bellingham, Jamal Musila and Nuno Mendes.
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski won the “Gerd Muller” award for best scorer in 2022.
Senegalese player Sadio Mane, Bayern Munich, won the “Socrates” award for those committed to charitable work.
While Barcelona’s Alexia Botías won the 2022 Ballon d’Or for the best female footballer, for the second time in a row, having previously won it in 2021.
Manchester City was chosen as the best club in the 2022/2021 season, followed by Liverpool and Real Madrid.