France, and the Ballon D'Or

The Ballon d’or has been around for a while now. The first edition of the mens Ballon d’or was in 1956. At first it was presented by France Football and still is. Every year the ceremony takes places in Paris in the beginning of the football season. The award is considered to be the biggest achievement a player can receive, at least on the same level as the World Cup. Since 2010, the year when FIFA decided to join France Football’s Ballon d’Or with their best player of the year award. This award means that you are considered the best in the world.

Benzema is not the first French player to win this mythical award, he joins the shortlist with Raymond Kopa winning it in 1958, Michel Platini winning it in 1983, 1984 and 1985, three years in a row, Jean-Pierre Papin in 1991 and maybe one of the biggest French football player ever, Zinedine Zidane, Topend Sports, 2022) Benzema is a player who has had a tough past with the French Football Federation, F.F.F. Back in 2014 he was found guilty of blackmailing his teammate Valbuena. He was banned from playing on the national team until the beginning of 2021. This did not stop him from having an incredible club career with his main club, Real Madrid. The same club with which he won the League, the Champions League. He won the two major leagues he competed in being top goal scorer and being selected top player in both. He capped his 2021 season scoring a whopping 44 goals, assisting 15 times in the season across all competitions. He was able to get those numbers in only 46 games played, (Transfermarkt, 2022)

Benzema was not the only strong contender this year; a few honorable mentions are Sadio Mane. Sadio mane had an incredible season with Liverpool and also had a great season internationally being the key player in Senegal winning the Afcon. He was not the only African player to have an incredible season with Liverpool as the next runner up was Mohamed Salah also having an incredible season on the club level. He joined Mane in the Afcon final where Mane came out on top.

The men's aren't the only ones to be celebrated in Paris. The women's Ballon d’or is a bit more recent. It first started 5 years ago. This year’s edition was won by Spanish player playing for Barcelona, Alexis Putellas. She came in front of Beth Mead and Sam Kerr, the latest is widely considered to be the best player this year. Alexis Putellas has won it all in the last years, the Ballon d’or and the UEFA best women player of the year. She accumulated a total of 29 goals 0 assists in 40 games in the 2021 season, according to the EU football database. The introduction of the Women’s Ballon represented a lot for the progress of women’s football as it was one of the first reward in this world.

Hopefully next year we will have a French Feminine Ballon d’or winner being Wendie Renard. Wendie Renard is widely considered to be the best French women’s football player. She plays as a cb and if you know who Virgil Van Dijk is, she is widely considered to be his equivalent in the feminine football world. This would perfectly fit the future Mbappe Ballon d’or.

I think we can say that this award was one of the most deserved. It is also refreshing to see another player than Messi or Ronaldo being considered the best of the world, the last time that happened was in 2018 when midfielder Luka Modric won for his great club career and for putting his team through to the final of the World Cup. As a French person it also brings some respect on the French football culture.

Bibliography

“Karim Benzema - Stats 21/22.” Transfermarkt.com, 2022, www.transfermarkt.com/karim-benzema/leistungsdaten/spieler/18922/plus/0?saison=2021.

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“List of the Ballon d’or Winners.” Topendsports.com, 2015, www.topendsports.com/sport/soccer/list-player-of-the-year-ballondor.htm.

‌ “Alexia Putellas - Stats and Titles Won - 22/23.” Footballdatabase.eu, 2022, www.footballdatabase.eu/en/player/details/379882-alexia-putellas.

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