When he played alongside CR 7, he was often overshadowed by the Portuguese, but since he remained the true leader in Madrid, he has begun to lead the blancos on his own.

Winner of 4 Champions with Madrid, he recently returned to the national team and was decisive in the victory in the Nations League, after the coach Deschamps had killed him, and so he had not been able to participate in the winning trip of the Bleus to Russia in 2018.

The Real Madrid forward is the fifth Frenchman to win this trophy: the last one was Zidane, 24 years ago. With his 15 goals scored, he contributed significantly to the Blancos' victory in the Champions League. Fifth place for Momo Salah, Courtois with the seventh is the best ranked goalkeeper. The new phenomenon of world football, Erling Haaland, is tenth, while the Milan player Leao is the best placed among the 'Italians'. This is the final standings of the 2022 Ballon d'Or: 1. Karim Benzema 2. Sadio Mané 3. Kevin De Bruyne 4. Robert Lewandowski 5. Mohamed Salah 6. Kylian Mbappé 7. Thibaut Courtois 8. Vinicius Jr 9. Luka Modric 10. Erling Haaland.