Ballon d’Or 2022: Zero votes for Cristiano Ronaldo in career lowest ranking

Cristiano Ronaldo came 20th in the Ballon d’Or rankings after a season-to-forget with Manchester United that saw the English giants finishing sixth in the Premier League. It was the five-time Ballo d’Or winner’s joint lowest ranking in the prestigious award since his 20th-place finish in 2005 alongside former Liverpool defender Jammie Carragher. 

To make matters worse, it has now been revealed that the 37-year-old received zero votes from the jury, alongside Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo, Christopher Nkunku, Darwin Nunez, Antonio Rudiger, Joshua Kimmich and Mike Maignan. 

Also read: Ballon d’Or 2022: Cristiano Ronaldo ranks 20th, his career lowest

The Ballon d’Or ceremony took place on October 17, and Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema won the coveted award having received 549 votes from the jury consisting of former players and football journalists. Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane was a distant second in the list with 193 points, followed by Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne with 175 points. 

Since 2005, Cristiano Ronaldo has always finished in the top 5 in the Ballon d’Or rankings. The fall from grace for the Portuguese forward has been a feature of his career since he joined United from Turin club Juventus at the start of the 2022 season. Although he has scored 17 goals in the Premier League, it was not enough to keep United where they belong – in the Champions League.

The Portuguese forward has had an illustrious career with five Champions League titles, two Serie A titles, two La Liga titles, three Premier League titles, and one Euro Cup with Portugal in 2016. 

Also read: What is the Socrates Award?

However, recently, Ronaldo was suspended from the squad by Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag after he refused to come on as a sub in United’s Premier League home match against Tottenham on Thursday. He is facing disciplinary action and did not travel with the team to Stamford Bridge for the Chelsea match that United drew one-one following a late Casemiro equaliser.