Lhe big favorite Karim Benzema, Paris SG prodigy Kylian Mbappé, Germany player of the year Christopher Nkunku and Serie A best goalkeeper Mike Maignan are the four French people nominated for the 2022 Ballon d’Or, awarded on October 17 in Paris. Seven-time winner and defending champion, Argentine star Lionel Messi is paying a high price for his failed first season at PSG and is not part of the list of 30 nominees. A first since … 2006. His teammate at PSG, Neymar, is not on the list either.
20 nominees are also in the running for the Women’s Ballon d’Or. We find the defending champion Alexia Putellas and the Norwegian from Lyon Ada Hegerberg, the first winner in 2018. The Ballon d’Or is changing format this year since it will now focus on the performances achieved during the sports season and not on the ‘calendar year.
Karim Benzema: it’s his year
Reigning Spanish champion, winner of the last Champions League, top scorer in both competitions, among others… Real Madrid’s French striker Karim Benzema is the huge favorite for the 2022 Ballon d’Or, after having finished 4th in the standings of the previous edition, won by Lionel Messi. At 34, “KB9” is coming out of his best season, which ended on Wednesday with a victory in the European Supercup (2-0) against Frankfurt. The native of Lyon of course went there with his goal to seal the victory for his family.
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The Frenchman with 97 selections with the Blues will have panicked the counters: 50 goals and 16 assists in official matches, club and national team combined, the highest total of his career.Kylian Mbappé: on the roof of Ligue 1, not of Europe
The French prodigy also had a great season, notably by leading Paris SG to their tenth title of champion of France. In Ligue 1, with 28 goals and 17 assists, two categories he largely dominated, Kylian Mbappé was by far the best player in the Championship.
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The PSG striker, however, risks paying for his club’s European journey, eliminated in the round of 16 by Karim Benzema’s Real Madrid, who scored a hat-trick in the second leg. Mbappé had resisted well, giving the victory to his people on the way to the Park and opening the scoring at the Bernabeu. Insufficient against a Benzema of the big days.
Christopher Nkunku: “the best” in the Bundesliga
Leaving PSG in 2019, Christopher Nkunku spread his wings across the Rhine at RB Leipzig, until becoming, in 2021/22, “der beste”, the best footballer in the country. First elected Bundesliga player of the season by his peers then player of the year 2022 by German journalists, Nkunku twice beat a certain Robert Lewandowski.
Author of 20 goals and 13 assists in 34 league matches, the 24-year-old striker was the main architect of Leipzig’s beautiful 4th place in the Bundesliga. The adventure was however less joyful in European competitions with an elimination from the group stages in C1 and a defeat in the semi-finals of C3 against Glasgow Rangers.
Mike Maignan: the bulwark of AC Milan
He retained his reputation as a solid bulwark obtained in Lille: Mike Maignan made AC Milan the best defense in Serie A, tied with Naples, enough to win a title of Italian champion who had been fleeing the Rossoneri since 2011. Called to become the successor to Hugo Lloris in the goals of the France team, the 27-year-old goalkeeper trained at PSG has taken a step forward. He was notably voted best goalkeeper in Serie A and is an outsider for the Yachine trophy behind favorite Thibaut Courtois.