Karim Benzema is the winner of the Ballon d’Or.

Benzema received the Ballon d’Or from Zidane

Karim Benzema is the winner of the 2022 Ballon d’Or, becoming the fifth French player to win the coveted award after Kopa, Platini, Papin and Zidane.

It was Zinedine Zidane himself who presented the award to the Real Madrid center forward who was unrivaled last season, winning Spanish La Liga and the Champions League, scoring a total of 44 goals in the two competitions.

The Blancos’ No. 9 won the Ballon d’Or ahead of Bayern Munich’s Senegalese, last year at Liverpool, Sadio Manè and Manchester City’s Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. Fourth was Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, following last year’s runner-up finish behind Lionel Messi.

“To be here in front of you is very exciting for me thinking about the work I put behind me. It is a dream, I grew up with this dream, it was my motivation. I had two role models in life Zidane and Ronaldo. There was a lot of work, I never gave up. There were very difficult times for me but today I am happy. I never gave up,” the French player’s first words after the award ceremony.