The Ballon d’Or full list has been announced with Karim Benzema winning the award.
After scoring 44 goals in 46 games, winning the Champions League and winning La Liga, Real Madrid striker Benzema was presented with the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.
Rumours were circulating that the Frenchman had won the award, and it was officially announced on Monday night. He becomes the first Frenchman to win the Ballon d’Or since Zinedine Zidane in 1998.
With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominating the award for so many years, it’s great to see a different winner.
Sadio Mane and Kevin De Bruyne finished second and third respectively.
It’s difficult to argue that Benzema didn’t deserve the award after such an impressive year. Winning both the Champions League and La Liga whilst scoring as many goals as he did meant it was a pretty easy decision.
The French international may consider himself unlucky not to have won it before, but with the likes of Ronaldo and Messi not performing how they once did, now was his chance.
The full list in order can be found at Sporting News.