Ballon d’Or 2022 voting revealed: Karim Benzema wins by second biggest margin ever from Sadio Mane

Karim Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d’Or by 356 votes from runner-up Sadio Mane, which is the second biggest victory in the award’s history, it has been revealed.

He was the top goalscorer in La Liga last season with 27 goals from 32 games and registered a goal or an assist every 89 minutes in the Champions League, including hat-tricks against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

The voting format at the Ballon d’Or saw 100 journalists from FIFA’s top 100 nations select their top five from the 30-man shortlist.

The players on each jury member’s list were awarded points, as follows:

• First: Six points
• Second: Four points
• Third: Three points
• Fourth: Two points
• Fifth: One point

Mane was awarded 193 votes for his success with Senegal and Liverpool last season. He scored the winning spot kick in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations against Egypt, and did so again in the play-off to secure qualification for the Qatar World Cup, which begins on November 20.

He also played a key role in Liverpool’s near-historic quadruple where they won the League Cup, FA Cup and just missed out on the Premier League and Champions League titles.

Kevin De Bruyne pipped Robert Lewandowski by five votes to take third, whilst Mohamed Salah was fifth.

Several players received no votes, most notably, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Manchester United player failed to finish in the top three for the first time since 2005.

England stars Harry Kane, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Phil Foden also failed to get any backing from the journalists.

Ballon d’Or 2022 voting – Top 10