Ballon d’or: the details of the votes, with the ultra-dominance of Benzema … and a few surprises – RMC Sport

France Football, which awards the Ballon d’Or each year, unveiled the full votes for the 2022 edition this Saturday. Karim Benzema crushed the debates by being placed in first position by 89 of the 93 journalists on the jury. France had been waiting for this since the coronation of Zinédine Zidane in 1998. On Monday, Karim Benzema was crowned Ballon d’Or 2022 in the wake of a season where he carried Real Madrid to the final victory in the Champions League, without forgetting a new La Liga title. This Saturday, the votes of the different countries were revealed by France Football with a statistic that is impressive: the French striker finished with 549 points out of the 558 possible units. In total, there are 93 journalists, each representing a countries, which established the classification of this Golden Ball, rewarding the best player of the 2021-2022 season. Karim Benzema came in first place out of 89 votes. Egypt and the Netherlands opted for Mohamed Salah. Sadio Mané came first at home in Senegal, where Slovenia placed Kevin de Bruyne in first position. Vinicius and Mbappé second in four countries eachSecond in the final ranking behind Karim Benzema, Sadio Mané was placed as runner-up to Benzema in 28 countries. To highlight among the other votes, the enormous rating of Vinicius Jr in certain countries where he is designated number 2 (Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Oman, Saudi Arabia), which is undoubtedly something to delight Neymar, who castigated the poor ranking of his compatriot. Kylian Mbappé is number 2 in Palestine, Ghana, Paraguay and Canada, Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez are the other players who have been placed at least once in second position .As a reminder, in the face of criticism in recent years, the jury of France Football, which organizes the Golden Ball, has been tightened. In the more original votes, the Colombian journalist chose his compatriot Luis Diaz to complete the top 5. Portugal also played on the patriotic fiber by integrating Rafael Leao in last place… a choice shared by North Macedonia, where Finland and Equatorial Guinea put Fabinho last in the top 5. Dusan Vlahovic picked up his only point thanks to Iran. No votes for Cristiano Ronaldo Currently sidelined due to cancer, Sébastien Haller finished 13th Ballon d’Or thanks to his fourth place obtained in Ivory Coast, his country. Son Heung-min is at the gates of the top 10 thanks to South Korea (4th) and Nigeria (3rd). Virgil van Dijk was ranked fifth by Georgia, his only vote. Eleven players did not collect any points in this ranking including Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, Mike Maignan or Phil Foden. The Portuguese took the 20th alone thanks to a higher number of Golden Ball nominations compared to his competitors, a way of deciding between the players who did not receive any votes. Karim Benzema (FRA, 34 years old; Real Madrid) – 549pts
2. Sadio Mané (SEN, 30 years old; Liverpool/Bayern Munich) – 193pts
3. Kevin De Bruyne (BEL, 31 years old; Manchester City) – 175pts
4. Robert Lewandowski (POL, 33 years old; Bayern Munich / FC Barcelona) – 170pts
5. Mohamed Salah (EGY, 30; Liverpool) – 116pts
6. Kylian Mbappé (FRA, 23 years old; Paris-SG) – 85pts
7. Thibaut Courtois (BEL, 30 years old; Real Madrid) – 82pts
8. Vinicius Jr (BRE, 22; Real Madrid) – 61pts
9. Luka Modric (CRO, 36 years old; Real Madrid) – 20pts
10. Erling Haaland (NOR, 22 years old; Borussia Dortmund / Manchester City) – 18pts
11. Heung-min Son (CDS, 30; Tottenham) – 5pts
12. Riyad Mahrez (ALG, 31 years old; Manchester City) – 4pts
13. Sébastien Haller (CIV, 28 years old; Ajax Amsterdam / Borussia Dortmund) -2pts
14. Rafael Leao (POR, 23; AC Milan) – 2pts
14. Fabinho (BRE, 28; Liverpool) – 1pt
16. Virgil van Dijk (HOL, 31; Liverpool) – 1pt
17. Casemiro (BRE, 30; Real Madrid/Manchester United) – 1pt
17. Dusan Vlahovic (SER, 22; Fiorentina/Juventus Turin) – 1pt
17. Luis Diaz (COL, 25 years old; Porto/Liverpool) – 1 pt
20. Cristiano Ronaldo (POR, 37; Juventus/Manchester United) – 0pt
21. Harry Kane (ENG, 29; Tottenham) – 0 pts
22. Bernardo Silva (POR, 28; Manchester City) – 0 pts
22. Trent Alexander-Arnold (ENG, 23; Liverpool) – 0 pts
22. Phil Foden (ENG, 22; Manchester City) – 0 pts
25. Darwin Nunez (URU, 23; Benfica/Liverpool) – 0 pts
25. Christopher Nkunku (FRA, 24 years old; RB Leipzig) – 0 pts
25. Joao Cancelo (POR, 28; Manchester City) – 0 pts
25. Antonio Rüdiger (GER, 29 years old; Chelsea/Real Madrid) – 0 pts
25. Mike Maignan (FRA, 27 years old; AC Milan) – 0 pts
25. Joshua Kimmich (GER, 27; Bayern Munich) – 0 pts