The 2022 Ballon d'Or (lit.'2022 Golden Ball') was the 66th annual presentation of the Ballon d'Or, presented by France Football, recognising the best footballers in the world during the 2021–22 season. For the first time in the history of the award, it was given based on the results of the European season, instead of the calendar year.[1] The nominees for the ceremony were announced on 12 August 2022,[2] and the ceremony was held on 17 October.[3]
Aged 18 at the time, Gavi (pictured in 2022) won the Kopa Trophy, succeeding his Barcelona teammate Pedri, who won the 2021 award.
Gavi won the 2022 Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best performing footballer under the age of 21 during the season; he finished ahead of the likes of Eduardo Camavinga and Jamal Musiala, who had successful club seasons with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively.[33] Starting his season as a relatively unknown Spanish academy product,[5] Gavi was handed his Barcelona debut aged 17 against Getafe in August 2021, making him the fourth youngest player to play in La Liga for Barcelona.[34] After he established himself as a regular in Ronald Koeman's side, Spain national team manager Luis Enrique gave him a senior debut against Italy in the UEFA Nations Leaguesemi-final on 6 October 2021, making him the youngest player to represent the national team.[5][35] Despite not winning any trophies at club or international level, Gavi personally had a successful club season with Barcelona, scoring two goals in 47 appearances in all competitions, playing regularly as a midfielder.[36]
For players who appeared for multiple clubs during the season, only the most recent club is listed:
Polish striker Robert Lewandowski won the 2022 Gerd Müller Trophy, awarded to the highest-scoring striker of the 2021–22 season. After previously being known as the Striker of the Year award it was renamed as the Gerd Müller Trophy after German striker Gerd Müller died in August 2021.[7] Lewandowski scored 57 goals in 56 matches, seven more than second placed Kylian Mbappé; he also finished fourth in the 2022 Ballon d'Or ranking, behind only Karim Benzema, Sadio Mané and Kevin De Bruyne.[7][6] During his prolific season with Bayern Munich, Lewandowski lifted the Bundesliga title, as well as earning other personal honours such as the European Golden Shoe and the Golden Foot.[40][41] This was Lewandowski's second time winning the award, after he won the inaugural edition in 2021.[7]
On 21 September 2022, France Football announced the creation of the 'Sócrates Award' which identifies "the best solidarity actions carried out by committed champions."[42] The award is named after the late Brazilian footballer Sócrates, in honour of the player using his platform as an international footballer to support democratic regimes and opposing the military dictatorship in Brazil at the time.[43][44] Sócrates co-founded the Corinthians' Democracy, an ideological football movement originating within the Brazilian club Corinthians which fought against the authoritarian regime by promoting democratic practices within the region,[43] including urging people to vote in Brazilian multiparty elections.[45]Liverpool player Sadio Mané won the inaugural award for charity work conducted in his home country, Senegal.[43] The forward financed and reinvested in new facilities within his hometown Bambali, including a school, petrol station and hospital.[46][47] Mané donated to the Senegalese National Committee fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.[48] Additionally, he financed a 4G internet service for the town and commissioned a €70-a-month stipend to each family in his hometown.[49] Outside of his charity work, Mané had a successful personal season with Liverpool, winning the FA Cup and EFL Cup and reaching the UEFA Champions League final;[50] he also won the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal midway through the European domestic season.[51]
Manchester City won Club of the Year, becoming the second English club to win the award, after Chelsea won the inaugural edition in 2021.
English club Manchester City won Club of the Year ahead of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Lyon. With the most Ballon d'Or and Ballon d'Or Féminin player nominations, Manchester City succeeded Chelsea as the second club to win the award following the award's introduction in 2021.[9] The club had João Cancelo, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva nominated for the season's Ballon d'Or, following their Premier League triumph. Additionally, Lucy Bronze, from Manchester City Women, was nominated for the Ballon d'Or Féminin, totalling six players from the club.[6] Manchester City finished ahead of Liverpool despite having the same number of player nominations; because City's nominations were spread across the two categories, they were given the award.[52]
↑ "IFFHS Men's World Team 2022". International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). 11 January 2023. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
↑ Bokserov, Nikita (15 March 2023). "Sócrates and Democracia Corinthiana". sportanddev.org. International Platform on Sport and Development. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Karim Benzema 
Alexia Putellas 
Thibaut Courtois 
Sadio Mané 
