News
MAR 18.10.2022
On Monday night, Karim Benzema received the most prestigious individual prize in world football: the Ballon d’Or. The Real Madrid player collected the trophy at a ceremony in Paris, with Zinedine Zidane – the last Frenchman to win it – presenting it to the striker.
Speaking about this honour, Benzema stated: “I’m very proud. This was a childhood dream, one I’ve kept in my head. I never gave up. I’m very happy and thank my teammates at Real Madrid and in the national team.”
There was consensus this year about the 34-year-old being the deserved winner of the award, given that the Frenchman was the superstar of the Real Madrid side that won LaLiga Santander, the Spanish Super Cup and the Champions League last season. It was his best campaign in terms of goals and assists stats, with 44 goals and 15 assists across all competitions.
This year, there was a change in how the Ballon d'Or was decided. As of 2022, the award is no longer given based on performances in the calendar year, as it is now evaluated by the football season. In other words, only the 2021/22 campaign was considered, which was when Benzema stood out for his performances.
Benzema’s victory further consolidates the dominance of Spanish football in this award. Looking at the history of the prize, the winner has belonged to a LaLiga Santander club on 24 occasions. That is followed by Serie A with 18 winners, the Bundesliga with nine and the Premier League with six. In other words, LaLiga now has as many Ballon d’Or winners as Serie A and the Premier League combined, which is extra impressive when considering all the incredible players to have been nominated for this prize since its creation by France Football in 1956.
Looking just at the 21st century, 15 of the 21 winners so far have played for a Spanish club during the year of their triumph. That was the case with Ronaldo Nazário (Real Madrid, 2002), Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona, 2005), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid, 2006), Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), Luka Modrić (Real Madrid, 2018) and now Benzema (2022). Benzema has become the eighth different player to win the Ballon d'Or while playing for Real Madrid, which is a record for any club, and the seventh different player from LaLiga Santander to win it this century.
In addition to Benzema’s Ballon d’Or win, several other trophies were also secured by Spain-based players on Monday night, as Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois won the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper, FC Barcelona’s Gavi won the Kopa Trophy for the best young player, FC Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski won the Gerd Müller Award for the best striker and FC Barcelona Femení’s Alexia Putellas retained her Women’s Ballon d’Or.
For Benzema, receiving his honour in the capital of France was the perfect way to celebrate his recent success. Real Madrid’s second-top goalscorer of all time is still performing at the highest level, most recently opening the scoring in his side’s 3-1 ElClasico win on Sunday and now he’ll focus on facing Elche CF away on Wednesday night.
© LALIGA - 2022