Ballon d’Or 2022: who voted for whom? Benzema and Putellas win

On Monday evening we watched on as the world of global football showed its more glitzy side. The sight of sweaty athletes showing their prowess on a muddy field was swapped for a red carpet filled with those same individuals wearing expensive suits, glamorous dresses and big smiles. And the supporting cast of families, friends, club officials and sporting executives took their own places as we gathered for the crowning of the best players in the world.

Ballon d’Or: who picked the winners?

Whether you put much weight in the individual award chosen or not -- for the record, I don’t -- there is certainly a prestige involved for those that get to vote in the Ballon d’Or prizes. We have seen in years gone by that much attention is put on who votes for whom, and often patterns can be seen where certain biases may be in play, sometimes some very left-field choices suggesting that only a limited amount of football has actually been watched. Just ask the Mexicans.

Fans will always have their own favourites and will find ways to doubt the integrity or intelligence of those voting a different way, especially if choosing a rival player.

This year there were a number of changes to the process, most notably, the jury of journalists was instructed to take into account players’ performances in the 2021/22 season, rather than the 2022 calendar year. What’s more, the number of jurors was significantly reduced, and the criteria they were to consider no longer includes a candidate’s achievements throughout their entire career.

So, to the 2022 Ballon d’Or voting. Who were behind the crowning glories of Karim Benzema, Alexia Putellas, Gavi, Thibaut Courtois, and Manchester City, and all those that came in behind them?

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Well, it took longer than usual to find out, but below you can see exactly which players got the favour of which journalist. There are certainly a few interesting ones...

2022 Ballon d’Or - total votes Top 10

The journalists involved in the Ballon d’Or jury selected their five players in order and this is how the points were then accumulated:

• First: 6 points
• Second: 4 points
• Third: 3 points
• Fourth: 2 points
• Fifth: 1 point

2022 Yashin trophy votes