After exciting matches across Europe at the weekend, Monday (October 17) will be the chosen time to honor the best individual of the 2021-2022 season. At 01:30 on October 18 (Vietnam time), the 2022 Ballon d'Or Award Ceremony took place in Chatelet in Paris, France.
Since mid-August, France Football - the award's voting unit, has announced the list of 30 candidates. Notably, Lionel Messi is not on this list, although he holds a record with 7 honors.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still nominated after 24 goals for Manchester United in the 2021-2022 season, along with many other stars. However, experts and fans have soon assessed who is the most outstanding character.
Accordingly, even though the election results have not been announced, everyone believes that Karim Benzema will be the winner. The French striker scored just one goal in Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Barcelona on Sunday (October 16).
Of course, this goal is only the basis for him to score points for the 2023 Ballon d'Or race, because from this year, the achievements will be based on the season instead of being counted in the calendar year.
In the 2021-2022 season, Big Benz scored a total of 44 goals and 15 assists in 46 matches in all competitions. The numbers are not enough to fully mention the importance of the 34-year-old striker, because on the journey with Real Madrid to win La Liga and the Champions League, he scored very important goals.
Other candidates such as Robert Lewandowski, Kevin De Bruyne, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland also scored many goals and performed excellently, but without a combination with the Champions League championship like Benzema. Before the El Clasico, Benzema's opponent Lewandowski also had to admit that the 2022 Ballon d'Or could not slip away from Benzema, unless France Football... canceled the award.
The Polish striker wants to reiterate the fact that he missed the 2020 Ballon d'Or because the leading French football magazine decided not to organize it due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, but it is also an affirmation of Benzema's superiority in the previous season.
If he wins, Benzema will become the fifth French player to win the Ballon d'Or, after Raymond Kopa, Michel platini, Jean Pierre Papin and Zinedine Zidane - the last Frenchman to be honored in 1998.
In France, they really felt Benzema had to win it. National team coach Didier Deschamps has no doubt about that.
" Obviously, it will be a very, very good reward. I would be very happy for him if he could get the Ballon d'Or," he told Telefoot, "He deserves it, thanks to all he has achieved this season with his performance and title with his club. And with us because he helped us win the Nations League".
In addition to the QBV award for men, France Football also awarded the Women's Golden Ball (Ballon d'Or Feminin), the Best Young Player award (Kopa Trophy), and the Best Goalkeeper award (Yashin Trophy). According to Marca, Benzema's teammate Thibaut Courtois will win the Best Goalkeeper award, while Barcelona's Gavi will win the Best Young Player award.
The 2022 Ballon d'Or award ceremony will take place at 01:30 on October 18, broadcast live on FPT Play.
