Karim Benzema wins first Ballon d’Or over Sadio Mane

Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema today won his first Ballon d’Or.

He beat competition from Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne who came second and third respectively.

Karim Benzema was instrumental in Real Madrid’s winning of La Liga and the Champions League.

Receiving the coveted award at the Paris’ Theatre Du Chatelet on Monday night, Karim Benzema said: 

‘To see this prize in front of me makes me proud. It was a childhood dream for me and with all the work I have done, I never gave up.“

‘I always had in my mind that anything was possible, when I was not in the France team I never stopped working hard.“

‘I am proud of my journey here. It was not easy, it was a difficult time and also for my family as well. To be standing here today for the first time, I am happy with my work and will keep going.“

Ballon D’Or 2022: Full List Of Rankings

25. Darwin Núñez, Christopher Nkunku, Joao Cancelo, Antonio Rudige, Mike Maignan, Joshua Kimmich

22. Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bernardo Silva 

 21. Harry Kane

 20. Cristiano Ronaldo

17. Luis Diaz, Dusan Vlahovic, Casemiro

16. Virgil van Dijk 

14. Fabinho, Rafael Leao

13. Sebastian Haller

12. Riyad Mahrez 

11. Heung-Min Son

10. Erling Haaland 

9. Luka Modric 

8. Vinicius Jr

7. Thibaut Courtois

6. Kylian Mbappe

5. Mohamed Salah

4. Robert Lewandowski

3. Kevin De Bruyne

2. Sadio Mane1. Karim Benzema