Four Africans made the Top 20 of the 2022 Ballon d'Or list. The four comprised two West Africans and two north Africans. The topmost African player was Sadio Mane of Senegal and Bayern Munich, who placed second only behind winner Karim Benzema. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt) came in fifth, Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City, Algeria) came in 12th whiles Sebastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund, Ivory Coast) placed 13th. Mane, however, received an individual award on the night. The Socrates Award was given to him for his humanitarian gesture back home. Mane is widely reported as building critical infrastructure in his home village in the West Africa country and also pays stipends to a number of families in Bamballi. Senegalese President Macky Sall was among the first to congratulate Mane via Twitter. "Best on the pitch and humanist at heart, Sadio MANE deserves this great trophy award #Socrates for his personal investment for the benefit of the community!" Sall's tweet accompanied by a picture of Mane read.

Meilleur sur le terrain et humaniste dans l'âme, Sadio MANE mérite cette belle récompense du trophée #Socrates pour son investissement personnel au bénéfice de la communauté !#BallonDor pic.twitter.com/mFjw3xePvL— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) October 17, 2022 About Benzema's victory: French international and Real Madrid star, Karim Benzema, was awarded the 2022 Ballon d'Or in a ceremony that took place in Paris on Monday, October 17. His victory came months after the Madrid side he captains won their 14th Champions League trophy in the French capital. A Marca report stated that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who is Benzema's most loyal supporter, was there to witness the moment. The two men met 14 years ago in Benzema's living room in Lyon after which talks he signed for the Los Blancos and has risen through the ranks to become captain. The award was handed to him by his former manager, Zinedine Zidane with his parents and son joining him on stage to receive the gong. The Ballon d'Or award has been handed to Real Madrid players a total of twelve times, matching Barcelona's figures. The former Los Blancos players who received the prize in the past were Alfredo Di Stefano, Raymond Kopa, Luis Figo, Ronaldo Nazario, Fabio Cannavaro, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric, the report added. Below are the top 20 players according to the 2022 ranking: 1. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France). 2. Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich, Senegal). 3. Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium). 4. Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona, Poland). 5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt). 6. Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain, France). 7. Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, Belgium). 8. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid, Brazil). 9. Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia). 10. Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway). 11. Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur, South Korea) 12. Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City, Algeria). 13. Sebastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund, Ivory Coast). 14. Fabinho (Liverpool, Brazil) tied with Rafael Leao (AC Milan, Portugal). 16. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, Netherlands). 17. Luis Diaz (Liverpool, Colombia) tied with Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus, Serbia) and Casemiro (Manchester United, Brazil). 20. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal).