France Football has already announced the list of the 30 best candidates for this year’s Golden Ball, now the top five hot favourites to win this year and also find out the previous winners along with the Ballon d’Or 2022 power rankings list
The Ballon d’Or is the highest award given to the best player on the planet each year. The best footballers in the world compete against each other to get hold of the shiny golden ball.
Ballon d’Or 2022 Power Rankings List, Odds, Predictions, Nominees Winner Favorites
Karim Benzema is the red-hot favourite at 1/25. Ex-Liverpool and new Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mane is second-favourite, coming in at 12/1 while Kevin de Bruyne has moved up the list and is now joint-third at 16/1, together with new Barcelona signing Robert Lewandowski.
Kylian Mbappe is in joint-fifth at 20/1 while Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo are longish shots at 25/1, with Neymar at 33/1.
SAVE THE DATE AND SEE YOU IN OCTOBER ! 🌕📅
📍 @theatrechatelet – Paris#ballondor pic.twitter.com/31aasDaJq2
— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) August 13, 2022
France Football on Friday, released the list of top 30 footballers for this year’s Ballon d’Or award along with other awards. These 30 players were selected according to their individual and collective performances at club and international level.
This list of 30 men will then be brought back to the bottom three before the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Ballon d’Or 2022 top five favourites to win-
1) Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema had an amazing 2021/22 season with his brilliant performances against Man City, Psg and Chelsea in the UCL knockout stages. He had a great contribution to Real Madrid in both winning the La Liga and Champions League. He had a contribution of 49 goals, and a total of 31 assists across all competitions in 2021-22 season. Benzema is the hot favourite to win the 2022 Ballon d’Or award.
2) Sadio Mane
Sadio Mane has now moved to Bayern Munich but he had a great contribution for Liverpool in the 2021-22 season. The Senegalese had a contribution of 33 goals and five assists across all competition. He also led Senegal to lift the African Cup of Nations.
3) Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski has now moved to Barcelona but had an incredible contribution of 57 goals and 12 assists for Bayern Munich across all competition. The 33-year-old is also on top to win this year’s Ballon d’Or award
4) Mohammed Salah
The 2021-22 Premier League season’s joint golden boot winner is also among the top contenders to win the award. The Egyptian contributed 33 goals and 19 assists across all contributions. He also played a key role in helping Liverpool to claim the FA Cup and Carabao Cup Titles.
5) Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne is another favourite to win the award. He was the Player Of The Season For Manchester City in the previous season. He had a contribution of 19 goals and 14 assists for the city. This will be the seventh nomination for De Bruyne.
List of previously Ballon d’Or Winners-
• Stanley Matthews (Blackpool)-1956
• Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid) -1957
• Raymond Kopa (Real Madrid )-1958
• Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid) -1959
• Luis Suarez (Barcelona) -1960
• Omar Sivori (Juventus)- 1961
• Josef Masopust (Dukla Prague) -1962
• Lev Yashin (Dynamo Moscow) -1963
• Denis Law (Manchester United) -1964
• Eusebio (Benfica) -1965
• Bobby Charlton (Manchester United)-1966
• Florian Albert (Ferencvaros) -1967
• George Best (Manchester United) -1968
• Gianni Rivera (AC Milan)-1969
• Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich)-1970
• Johan Cruyff (Ajax)-1971
• Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)-1972
• Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)-1973
• Johan Cruyff (Barcelona)-1974
• Oleg Blokhin (Dynamo Kyiv)-1975
• Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich)-1976
• Allan Simonsen (Borussia Monchengladbach)-1977
• Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)-1978
• Kevin Keegan (Hamburg)-1979
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)-1980
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)-1981
• Paolo Rossi (Juventus)-1982
• Michel Platini (Juventus)-1983
• Michel Platini (Juventus)-1984
• Michel Platini (Juventus)-1985
• Igor Belanov (Dynamo Kyiv)-1986
• Ruud Gullit (AC Milan)-1987
• Marco van Basten (AC Milan)-1988
• Marco van Basten (AC Milan)-1989
• Lothar Matthaus (Internazionale)1990
• Jean-Pierre Papin (Marseille)-1991
• Marco van Basten (AC Milan)-1992
• Roberto Baggio (Juventus)-1993
• Hristo Stoichkov (Barcelona)-1994
• George Weah (AC Milan)-1995
• Matthias Sammer (Borussia Dortmund)-1996
• Ronaldo (Internazionale)-1997
• Zinedine Zidane (Juventus)-1998
• Rivaldo (Barcelona)-1999
• Luis Figo (Real Madrid)-2000
• Michael Owen (Liverpool)-2001
• Ronaldo (Real Madrid)-2002
• Pavel Nedved (Juventus)-2003
• Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)-2004
• Ronaldinho (Barcelona) -2005
• Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid) -2006
• Kaka (Milan) -2007
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) – 2008
• Lionel Messi (Barcelona) -2009
• Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 2010
• Lionel Messi (Barcelona)- 2011
• Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 2012
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)- 2013
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) -2014
• Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 2015
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)- 2016
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) -2017
• Luka Modric (Real Madrid) – 2018
• Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 2019
• Cancelled because of Covid-19 – 2020
• Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain) – 2021
Who won the award on many occasions?
Until now, Lionel Messi (7) and Cristiano Ronaldo (5) have won the award for the most part.