Ballon d’Or - LIVE!
The honour of football’s most prestigious individual award last night went to Karim Benzema as he became the first Frenchman to win the Ballon d’Or since Zinedine Zidane last century. It was no surprise after he last season fired Carlo Ancelotti’s side to a memorable LaLiga and Champions League double, scoring a remarkable 44 goals across all competitions.
The likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe were both in the top ten while Benzema is only the second player not named Lionel Messi - who did not make the final shortlist this year - or Cristiano Ronaldo to scoop the prize since 2007. Harry Kane finished 21st in the voting, with Ronaldo in 20th, his worst result since 2005, and Haaland 10th. Mbappe came sixth in the voting, just behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
Gavi picked up the Kopa Trophy, for the best men’s U21 player, beating the likes of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka. Barcelona superstar Alexia Putellas clinched her second successive Ballon d'Or Féminin, with Beth Mead second in the voting after starring for Arsenal and England. Thibaut Courtois won the Yashin Trophy. Read back our LIVE coverage of the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony with Standard Sport’s blog below!
