The 2022 Ballon d’Or  award was presented last night amidst a rich cream of star players gunning for the coveted trophy the list included at number twenty-five Darwin Núñez, Christopher Nkunku, Joao Cancelo, Antonio Rudiger, Mike Maignan, Joshua Kimmich, Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bernardo Silva ,Harry Kane.

At number twenty was former winner Cristiano Ronaldo,Luis Diaz, Dusan Vlahovic, Casemiro, Virgil van Dijk ,Fabinho, Rafael Leao, Sebastian Haller,

Riyad Mahrez ,Son Heung-min, at number ten on the rankings is  Erling Haaland,Luka Modric, Vinicius Jr,Thibaut Courtois,Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski, Kevin De Bruyne, Sadio Mane and Karim Benzema. 

Eventually Real Madrid and France striker Karim Benzema etched his name into history as he won the 2022 Ballon d'Or award.

At a glittering ceremony in Paris' Theatre Du Chatelet on Monday night, the Frenchman clinched football's most prestigious award ahead of Bayern Munich's Sadio Mane and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.

It's deserved recognition for the 34-year-old after his tremendous form this calendar year. He played a big role in Madrid's Champions League glory in May and has continued to impress during the 2022-23 campaign.

Speaking after winning the award, Benzema said: 'To see this prize in front of me makes me really proud. It was a childhood dream for me and all the work I have done, I never gave up. I always had in my mind that anything was possible