HASWhen the list of 30 nominees for the 2022 Ballon d’Or was unveiled, Kylian Mbappé revealed, in an interview with France Soccer, his top 3 compared to the past season. The Parisian self-appointed on the podium, behind the huge favorite Karim Benzema and alongside the Senegalese Sadio Mané. “I would say Benzema, me and Mané,” he replied when asked to submit his top 3, the day after the publication of the list of 30 nominees.
The 23-year-old Frenchman clearly sees his compatriot from Real Madrid winning the accolade for the first time. “Hardly. He is 34 years old, has just had the season of his life, wins a new Champions League by often being decisive… In place of Karim, if I don’t win there, I stop thinking about the Ballon d’Or forever. ‘gold,’ Mbappé told the award-winning magazine.
Lionel Messi, big absentee
The Ballon d’Or, awarded on October 17 in Paris, has changed format for this edition: it no longer crowns the best player over a calendar year but over the sports season, henceforth highlighting “individual performances” and the “decisive and impressive character” of the postulants.
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Mbappé, author in 2021-2022 of 39 goals and 26 assists in club all competitions combined, however only won Ligue 1 last season. Benzema lifted the Champions League and La Liga, while Sadio Mané won the African Cup of Nations, the English League Cup, the FA Cup, and reached the C1 final. For the first time since 2005, the seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, Lionel Messi, was not selected among the 30 named.