Monday 17 October is the date chosen for the 2022 Golden Ball award ceremony. For the first time, performances over the past season and not the calendar year were taken into account for this supreme individual award, with a jury restricted to 100 journalists (one per country for the top 100 countries in the FIFA ranking).
The rankings of the players ranked 30th to 11th will be announced from 4.30pm (French time). The Golden Ball award ceremony starts at 8.30pm at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris and will be presented by Ivorian football legend Didier Drogba.
For the moment, and barring any last-minute errors, French striker Karim Benzema, author of a very successful season with Real Madrid, is expected to win the trophy.
Senegal’s Sadio Mané and three other Africans on the list
Bayern’s Sadio Mané is one of the players who can claim a place on the podium, along with Thibaut Courtois, Vinicius and Robert Lewandowski. Winner of the CAN, qualified for the World Cup, winner of the two English cups, finalist of the Champions League and 2nd in the Premier League, the Senegalese striker can legitimately hope to improve on his record 4th place in 2019 and become the 2nd African to reach the podium after Weah.
His former Liverpool teammate, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, 7th last year, may well be closer to the top five than the top ten. Due to the CAN fiasco, Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City/Algeria), who performed well in the Champions League last season, may find it difficult to aim higher than the top 15, while Ivorian Sébastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund), the third top scorer in the last Champions League (11 goals) and currently battling a testicular tumour, will certainly be entitled to a special tribute.
In the history of the Golden Ball, Liberia’s George Weah is the only African to have won the prestigious award in 1995.
The 30 nominees for the Golden Ball 2022 :
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid / Belgium)
Rafael Leao (AC Milan / Portugal)
Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig / France)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool / Egypt)
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich / Germany)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool / England)
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid / Brazilia)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City / Portugal)
Luis Diaz (Liverpool / Colombia)
Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelone / Poland)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City / Algeria)
Casemiro (Real Madrid / Brazil)
Heung-Min Son (Tottenham / South Corea)
Fabinho (Liverpool / Brazil)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid / France)
Mike Maignan (AC Milan / France)
Harry Kane (Tottenham / England)
Darwin Nunez (Liverpool / Uruguay)
Phil Foden (Manchester City / England)
Sadio Mané (Bayern Munich / Senegal)
Sébastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund / Ivory Coast)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid / Croatie)
Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid / Germany)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United / Portugal)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City / Belgium)
Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus Turin / Serbia)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool / Netherlands)
Joao Cancelo (Manchester City / Portugal)
Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Erling Håland (Manchester City / Norway)
