'It Was a Childhood Dream': Real Madrid Star Karim Benzema Wins 2022 Ballon d'Or

The 2022 rendition of the Ballon d'Or award ceremony was presented with somewhat of a makeover in vote processing. Unlike past years, the 2022 ceremony only took input from jurors from the top 100 nations in FIFA's global rankings for the men's award, and only the top 50 for the women's prizes.

French Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema clinched his very first Ballon d'Or award on Monday at the annual football awards ceremony in Paris, France.

Here is the image you've all been waiting for! Karim Benzema! #ballondor with @adidasFR pic.twitter.com/TJze0Km1s6

— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) October 17, 2022

Benzema had been favored to win the highly-coveted trophy after having scored 15 Champions League goals, including 10 during Real Madrid's knockout phase of the 2021-2022 season. The Frenchman also scored 27 goals in 31 La Liga appearances.

“This prize in front of me makes me really proud," the striker told the cheering crowd. "I never gave up, it was a childhood dream. There was a difficult period where I wasn’t in the France team, but I kept working hard. I kept in my head this joy of playing football; I’m really proud of my journey here.”

Benzema's win succeeds that of past titleholder Lionel Messi, who had held a total of 47 goals and 16 assists across competitions. This year's ceremony marks the first time since 2006 that neither Messi nor fellow heavyweight Cristiano Ronaldo has at least been on the podium, and the second time in which a player other than Messi or Ronaldo won the award.

Prior to the Monday win, some reports suggested Benzema faced tough competition from Polish striker Robert Lewandowski and PSG star Kylian Mbappe for the top award. Incidentally, Mbappe appeared to be heckled as he arrived at the Theatre du Chatelet venue.

King Karim arrives to collect his #ballondor crown. 👑 pic.twitter.com/Ia3C0RBr4j

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 17, 2022

The podium for the top spots in the men's division was rounded out by Senegalese Sadio Mane and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne. In the women's division, the top award was won by Alexia Putella, who managed to retain the award after leading Barcelona to yet another title.