An important step. This Friday, France Soccer lifted the veil on the identity of the finalists for the Ballon d’Or 2022. There are 30 of them to compete for this prestigious trophy rewarding the best player in the world over a season. A first in the history of the Ballon d’Or, since it is the first awarded after the reform adopted by our colleagues from FF last march 11. The highest personal distinction in this sport will therefore be awarded, on October 17 at the Théâtre du Châtelet, to the lucky winner with regard to an entire season (namely 2021-2022), and no longer over a calendar year.
This is also probably what excluded Lionel Messi, winner of the previous edition and six-time Ballon d’Or, from this list. The Argentinian, absent just like his teammate at PSG Neymar, pays for his first timorous year in France. On the other hand, Karim Benzema, winner of La Liga and the Champions League with Real Madrid, while having finished at the top of the scoring charts in these two competitions (27 achievements in Spain, 15 on the European scene), is beautiful and present.
Who else but Benzema?
The French international remains the huge favorite for this 2022 edition, the 66th in history. Especially since the former Lyonnais, still scorer in the European Super Cup on Wednesday, won the Nations League with the Blues. No one seems able to dispute the final victory of KB9, who made the talk 44 times (plus 15 assists) in total in 46 games in the previous exercise. Note the presence of three other French people in this final list (Christopher Nkunku, Kylian Mbappé and Mike Maignan), or even those of Cristiano Ronaldo or Erling Haaland.
The potential future winners of the Women’s Ballon d’Or, the Yachine Trophy (best goalkeeper) and the Kopa Trophy (best youngster) were also revealed on Friday. As with the men, four players are among the 30 finalists for the 2022 Women’s Ballon d’Or (Renard, Bacha, Diani and Katoto). Among young people, Eduardo Camavinga is the only tricolor representative. Finally, Gianluigi Donnarumma, winner of the Yachine Trophy last year, is the big absentee from this 2022 edition concerning the best goalkeeper of the 2021-2022 season.
The list of 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or 2022
Thibaut Courtois (Belgium, Real Madrid)
Rafael Leao (Portugal, AC Milan)
Joshua Kimmich (Germany, Bayern Munich)
Christopher Nkunku (France, RB Leipzig)
Mohammad Salah (Egypt, Liverpool)
Trent Alexander Arnold (England, Liverpool)
Vinicius Jr (Brazil, Real Madrid)
Bernardo Silva (Portugal, Manchester City)
Luis Diaz (Colombia, Porto then Liverpool)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland, Bayern Munich then FC Barcelona)
Riyadh Mahrez (Algeria, Manchester City)
Casemiro (Brazil, Real Madrid)
Heung Min Son (South Korea, Tottenham)
Fabinho (Brazil, Liverpool)
Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid)
Mike Maignan (France, AC Milan)
Harry Kane (England, Tottenham)
Darwin Nunez (Uruguay, Benfica then Liverpool)
Phil Foden (England, Manchester City)
Sadio Mane (Senegal, Liverpool then Bayern Munich)
Sebastien Haller (Ivory Coast, Ajax then BvB)
Luka Modric (Croatia, Real Madrid)
Antonio Rudiger (Germany, Chelsea then Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United)
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium, Manchester City)
Dusan Vlahovic (Serbia, Fiorentina then Juventus)
Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands, Liverpool)
Joao Cancelo (Portugal, Manchester City)
Kylian Mbappe (France, PSG)
Erling Haaland (Norway, BvB then Manchester City)