2022 Ballon d'Or Top 20: Benzema top, Ronaldo 20th, Messi absent

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).