Who will win the Ballon d’Or? Real Madrid striker is the favourite

Next week, on Monday, we will find out who will receive the prestigious Golden Ball individual award for the best European footballer of the past season. According to the bookmakers, Karim Benzema of Real Madrid is the biggest favourite. Who could threaten him?

News for 2022

The prestigious award has undergone several changes this year. The most important one is that the player’s season is now taken into account instead of the calendar year. This means, for example, that the World Cup will affect the Ballon d’Or for 2023.

Other innovations include differences in voting. Whereas in the previous edition representatives from 127 countries voted, now only members from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings will decide the winner.

French newspaper France Football has also clarified what the three main judging criteria are for the winner. Individual performances come first, then team results are taken into account and last but not least a sense of fair play.

A clear victory or an African surprise?

It is already clear that the last Ballon d’Or winner from 2021, Lionel Messi, will not defend his title. In fact, the Argentine midfielder did not even make it into the 30-strong shortlist of nominees for this year, which is determined by France Football.

On the other hand, the announced nomination includes multiple winner Cristiano Ronaldo, 2018 winner Luka Modric and young strikers Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé.

However, the biggest favourite, according to the bookmakers, is Karim Benzema of Real Madrid. The French striker has had the season of his life, scoring 48 goals and adding 15 assists across competitions. In addition, he won the Champions League, La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid.

His biggest competitor is ex-Liverpool man Sadio Mané, who scored 33 goals and had 5 assists. The Senegalese striker managed to win the African Cup of Nations with his country and was also one of the unstoppable footballers in the English league.

According to Goal, Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski or Kylian Mbappé could also be in contention for the Ballon d’Or, but neither this trio nor any other of the 30-strong list has been as consistent as Karim Benzema.

Source: Footballtransfers, Goal