Ranking the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or 2022

The Ballon d’Or race is getting fired up after every passing day. Karim Benzema is considered the clear favourite to win this award with Robert Lewandowski and Mohammed Salah in the mix.

The Ballon d’Or 2022 brings certain new policies. The award will be based on the performance of the previous season, rather than a calendar year. Only 100 journalists will get to vote, out of FIFA’s top-ranked century of nations. Likewise, the women’s award will get the top 50 ranked nation’s journalists.

Let’s see who are the top 3 favourites to win this year’s Ballon d’Or

3. Mohammed Salah – Liverpool

The Egyptian ace has been one of the standout performers for Liverpool throughout this season. His vital goals in the Africa Cup of Nations and reaching the final have been noteworthy.

Salah is the current top scorer in the Premier League with 22 goals as well as the top assist provider with 13. The Reds are currently on a magical run to be the first team to win the quadruple. If they achieve so, Salah would highly be the favourite to win this year’s Ballon d’Or.

Salah is on 8 goals in the Champions League, way behind top scorer Benzema’s 15. But a Man of the match performance in the Final would surely turn the tide around.

2. Robert Lewandowski – Bayern Munich

For some pundits, the Polish missing the 2021 Ballon d’Or has been an injustice, despite his out of the world performances.

This season, Lewa has been exceptional too. Six months later, he is still considered the candidate to win the award. Goals were never a problem as if they were a routine for him. 34 goals in 32 Bundesliga matches says it all. His UCL tally is also quite impressive with 13 goals in the 2^nd spot.

The Bavarian side stormed to their 10^th league title, earlier at the end of April. Though their exit in the quarter-final in the UCL may prove a limitation for him.

1. Karim Benzema – Real Madrid

People say the quote “ageing like a fine wine”, and that’s been the case for Benzema this season. His prolific numbers and spectacular form in front of the goal have been the story of this season.

Current top-scorer in the league with 26 goals and top scorer in UCL with 15 goals, Benzema is writing history at 34 years of age. The Madrid talisman saved his side single-handedly on so many occasions. His hat tricks in the Champions League against PSG and Chelsea in the knockouts shows his prowess.

Pocketing La Liga at the start of May and booking a spot in the UCL finals, King Karim is considered the clear favourite by many to win this year’s award. It’s also fair to mention his goal in the triumph of the UEFA Nations League 2021 for France.