French footballer Karim Benzema, who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid has won the 2022 Ballon d’Or award. He won the 2022 UEFA Champions League season with Real Madrid and produced several incredible performances on the way. He became the fifth Frenchman ever to win the prestigious award.
He became the highest goalscorer in the in UEFA Champions League with 15 goals as Real Madrid went on to win the trophy defeating giants like Manchester City, Paris Saint Germain, and Liverpool on the way. His performance in the semis will be forever memorable as the French star scored twice in the final minutes of the match to take Real Madrid to the title after staying 2-1 down for the most part of the match.
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He also scored a whooping 27 goals in the 2021-22 La Liga season bagging the highest goalscorer award in the league.
Along with Benzema, his fellow Real Madrid teammate goalkeeper Timo Courtois won the Yashin Trophy at the 2022 Ballon d’Or.
Manchester City won the best club award for 2022, defeating Liverpool (2nd) and Real Madrid (3rd).
Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona won the inaugural Gerd Muller award for being the highest goalscorer in all major leagues across the world. The Polish striker scored a whooping 50 goals last year, 35 in the Bundesliga and 15 in the UEFA Champions League.
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Alexia Putellas of Barcelona won the Ballon d’Or Feminin 2022, becoming the only player to win the award for two consecutive years.
Since his stellar performance, Benzema has made a comeback to the France Men’s football team. He was the favourite to win in 2022 after Cristiano Ronaldo finished 20th, and last year’s winner Lionel Messi failed to make it to the final shortlist.
