Ballon d'Or 2022: Benzema leads Top 5 Favorites, Lionel Messi NOT among the nominees

It’s that time of the year again when every football fan is eagerly waiting to see the result of the Ballon d'Or. For most people, it’s almost impossible to recall the time when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi didn’t dominate the race for the title. It’s almost unimaginable to not see Lionel Messi’s name in the list of payers nominated for this year’s award. Lionel Messi is the current holder of the title and also has a record of holding the greatest number of Ballon d'Or awards by a single player.

Moving on with this year’s nomination, here are the names that are currently fighting for the title in the men’s category: 

• Thibaut Courtois;
• Rafael Leao;
• Christopher Nkunku;
• Mohamed Salah;
• Joshua Kimmich;
• Trent Alexander-Arnold;
• Vinicius Junior;
• Bernardo Silva;
• Luis Diaz;
• Robert Lewandowski;
• Riyad Mahrez;
• Casemiro;
• Son Heung-min;
• Fabinho;
• Karim Benzema;
• Mike Maignan;
• Harry Kane;
• Darwin Núñez;
• Phil Foden;
• Sadio Mané;
• Sébastien Haller;
• Luka Modrić;
• Antonio Rudiger;
• Cristiano Ronaldo;
• Kevin De Bruyne;
• Dusan Vlahovic;
• Virgil van Dijk;
• João Cancelo;
• Kylian Mbappé;
• Erling Haaland

Before we move on to the top contenders, it is important to highlight that France Football has made some major changes in this year’s competition and beyond. Amongst those, the biggest change is that the award will count the players’ performances from a classic football season (August to July) as opposed to the previously used January to December timeline. This ensures that the Ballon d'Or is awarded on the basis of every player's individual and team performance in a particular season.

The 2022 Ballon d'Or ceremony will be held on Monday, 17 October in Paris.

The award has been given out since 1956 and until now it was awarded at the end of each calendar year but with this new system, they want to celebrate players who have achieved great things during their respective football seasons so we're getting our awards earlier than ever!

The 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony will be held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. This is where both 2019 and 2021 galas took place, so it seems like a good fit for an international award show like this one!

The Ivory Coast footballer, Didier Drogba will be presenting the Ballon d'or 2022 ceremony next Monday in Paris France just like he did last year when Lionel Messi took home top prize.

Kevin De Bruyne is having an incredible season for Manchester City. He's scored 19 goals and assisted 14 more. But it hasn't all gone according to plan - Kevin has had some unfortunate injuries which have prevented him from capturing major global honors. 

Salah had a good start at Liverpool and held the momentum in the first half of the 2021-2022 season. He produced quality goals and managed to win games single-handedly. He had 33 goals and 19 assists and won FA Cup and Carabao Cup for Liverpool.

The lightning-fast player is PSG’s top performer in recent times and has shown great potential to dominate individual player awards like Ballon d’Or. His linkup with Messi and the team has proven to be crucial for PSG.

He scored 49 goals and made 31 assists in 2021-202, winning League 1 and UEFA Nations League. The question that commonly arises with his status is that can he win the major awards whilst staying at PSG. Of course, he can, but PSG will need to improve their performance in major European competitions like the Champions League.

The Bayern Munich star (now at Barcelona) has enjoyed the time of his life and scored 50+ goals for the 8th time in his last 10 seasons. He scored 57 goals and made 12 assists in 2021-2022 for Bayern Munich. Arguably the most deserving Ballon d’Or winner for the year 2020 which didn’t take place due to the pandemic.

Karim Benzema is the clear favorite this year. He has scored 48 goals, made 15 assists, and has won UEFA Champions League, La Liga, UEFA Nations League, and Supercopa de Espana.

He has been consistent throughout the season and has made major contributions to his team to win those titles. He has enjoyed exceptional form this year and has managed to keep his performance consistent.

Karim Benzema is the clear favorite to win the Ballon d’Or 2022. His performance has been unmatched this season and his consistency was unparalleled. The odds are going to be in his favor.

• Karim Benzema to win the award for 1.03
• Kylian Mbappé to win the award for 17
• Mohamed Salah to win the award 26
• Robert Lewandowski to win the award for 34
• Kevin De Bruyne to win the award for 34