The Ballon d’Or is finally here.
After a crazy 2021-22 season where Real Madrid clinched another Champions League and their 35th LaLiga title, where Manchester City won a fourth Premier League in the last five years, where Lyon shocked Barcelona in the UWCL final and where Senegal was crowned king of Africa, the Ballon d’Or ceremony is coming to award those that dominated and helped their teams succeed throughout the season.
The four awards that will be given out by France Football on Monday, Oct. 17, will be the Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper), Kopa Trophy (best u-21 men's player) and the men's and women’s Ballon d’Or (best player). As you can see by the title, we’re so anxious to see the winners that we decided to name them on our own.
To decide the winners, we asked The18 staffers to name and rank the players who they think should take the 2022 Ballon d’Or awards home.
The18’s voting system
Yashin Trophy winner: player with the most votes
Kopa Trophy winner: player with the most votes
Men and women's Ballon d'Or winners: player with the most points
Players placed between first and third place were given points as follows:
- 1st - 5 points
- 2nd - 3 points
- 3rd - 1 point
The18's individual votes and winners
Joseph Reina (Intern Writer)
Men's Ballon d’Or
1. Karim Benzema
2. Robert Lewandowski
3. Kylian Mbappé
4. Kevin De Bruyne
5. Erling Haaland
Women's Ballon d’Or
1. Beth Mead
2. Alexandra Popp
3. Lucy Bronze
4. Alex Morgan
5. Alexia Putellas
Kopa Trophy: Jamal Musiala
Yashin Trophy: Thibaut Courtois
Giancarlo Cornejo (Intern Writer)
Men's Ballon d’Or
1. Karim Benzema
2. Thibaut Courtois
3. Sadio Mané
4. Vinicius Jr.
5. Kevin De Bruyne
Women's Ballon d’Or
1. Alexia Putellas
2. Beth Mead
3. Sam Kerr
4. Wendie Renard
5. Ada Hegerberg
Kopa Trophy: Jude Bellingham
Yashin Trophy: Thibaut Courtois
Connor Flemming (Writer)
Men's Ballon d'Or
1. Karim Benzema
2. Kylian Mbappé
3. Kevin De Bruyne
4. Vinicius Jr.
5. Luka Modrić
Women's Ballon d'Or
1. Alexia Putellas
2. Catarina Macario
3. Beth Mead
4. Ada Hegerberg
5. Alex Morgan
Kopa Trophy: Gavi
Yashin Trophy: Thibaut Courtois
Liam Hanley (Intern Writer)
Men's Ballon d'Or
1) Karim Benzema
2) Kylian Mbappé
3) Kevin De Bruyne
4) Robert Lewandowski
5) Thibaut Courtois
Women's Ballon d'Or
1) Vivianne Miedema
2) Sam Kerr
3) Alexia Putellas
4) Christiane Endler
5) Wendie Renard
Kepa Trophy: Florian Wirtz
Yashin Trophy: Thibaut Courtois
David Moore (Writer)
Men's Ballon d'Or:
1. Karim Benzema
2. Kylian Mbappé
3. Sadio Mané
4. Vinicius Jr.
5. Christopher Nkunku
Women's Ballon d'Or:
1. Beth Mead
2. Sam Kerr
3. Alexia Putellas
4. Ada Hegerberg
5. Catarina Macario
Kopa Trophy: Jude Bellingham
Yashin Trophy: Thibaut Courtois
Abby Bouck (Social Media)
Men's Ballon d’Or
1. Karim Benzema
2. Robert Lewandowski
3. Kylian Mbappé
4. Mohamed Salah
5. Vinicius Jr.
Women's Ballon d’Or
1. Alexia Putellas
2. Christiane Endler
3. Sam Kerr
4. Wendie Renard
5. Trinity Rodman
Kopa Trophy: Eduardo Camavinga
Yashin Trophy: Thibaut Courtois
The 18’s Ballon d’Or Winners
Yashin Trophy
Winner: Thibaut Courtois - 6 votes
Kopa Trophy
Winner: Jude Bellingham - 2 votes
Women’s Ballon d’Or
Winner: Alexia Putellas - 17 pts
2. Beth Mead - 14 pts
3. Sam Kerr - 8 pts
Men’s Ballon d’Or
Winner: Karim Benzema - 30 pts
2. Kylian Mbappé - 8 pts
3. Robert Lewandowski - 6 pts
