Ballon D’Or top 5 Power Rankings for June 2022


Ballon D’Or top 5 Power Rankings for June 2022

France Football has recently introduced new changes to the criteria for the Ballon D’Or award starting from this year. As per France Football, they are as follows:

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  1. A change from judging by years to by seasons: decisions will now be based on performances between the traditional season of August and July, rather than calendar years, which used to combine two half-campaigns.
  1. A change in who puts together the shortlists: Ballon d’Or ambassador Didier Drogba and the journalists who came closer to getting the last year’s results right will be involved in choosing the shortlisted candidates, which runs to 30 for the main award and 20 for the young player and goalkeeper trophy.
  2. A change in the number of people able to vote: last year saw representatives from 170 countries take part in the process, but from now on only the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings – and the top 50 for women’s football – will be able to vote.
  3. A slight tweak to the criteria: as it’s an individual award, voters are being instructed to focus on the players’ individual performances over collective achievements, with fair play and setting a good example also counting towards the overall weighting.

So now, it seems like Messi and Ronaldo will not win the Ballon D’Or this year. The Argentine and Portuguese stars have had a stronghold over the award, winning 12 of the past 13 times. The season has just finished so now all the club stats are final. So, this will be the final Ballon D’Or ist till the season resumes in August.

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The top 5 candidates for the Ballon D’or award as per the month of June.

5. Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe
  • Club: PSG
  • Country: France
  • Games: 46
  • Goals: 39
  • Assists: 26

PSG’s European exit has dented his dreams of the golden ball and unfortunately, he’ll only be trying his best to drag France to another World Cup title after the Ballon d’Or has been awarded. Mbappe at least has an ace up his sleeve, that his Nations League final goal has already decided one 2021/22 trophy.

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Another has followed at PSG. If this award was chosen on ability and talent alone, then Mbappe would surely be in the top two. But since they are not, Mbappe will have to make do with the fifth position. He only won 2 trophies this season, The Ligue 1 and the Nations League. Also, the fact he was eliminated in the Round of 16 in the Champions League leads to the conclusion that he currently stands at the fifth position in the Ballon D’Or power rankings for June.

4. Kevin de Bruyne

Manchester City
Manchester City player Kevin de Bruyne
  • Club: Manchester City
  • Country: Belgium
  • Games: 45
  • Goals: 19
  • Assists: 14

Kevin de Bruyne has been the main catalyst for Manchester City’s goals this season. He could be seen making plays and passes that could open any defence in any era of the footballing world. Although he has been doing so for the past few years, this year he has been exceptionally incredible. He has 33GA in 45 games this season.

Kevin de Bruyne showing his importance

These kind of stats for a midfielder playing in a 4-3-3 Holding with no CAM under Pep Guardiola is just exceptional. Therefore, he places #4 on our list of Ballon D’Or contenders for this month.

3. Robert Lewandowski

Robert Lewandowski
  • Club: Bayern Munich
  • Country: Poland
  • Games: 46
  • Goals: 50
  • Assists: 7

28 goals in his first 25 Bundesliga matches. 12 in his first eight Champions League games, including the fastest-ever hat-trick in a 7-1 rout of Red Bull Salzburg. By now, these numbers are routine for Robert Lewandowski.

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For some, the Pole missing out on the last two awards – one due to COVID, one due to Messi – is a great injustice that needs correcting this season. Bayern are storming to another title, one of the favourites for the Champions League but no World Cup this summer will certainly harm Lewangoalski’s bid. 

Still, there are voters who weren’t convinced by him last time around, which will no doubt play on his fans’ minds for the 2022 prize. Can France Football really complete a hat-trick of ignoring this super striker? But the fact he lost in the Champions League semis to Villareal of all teams will surely hurt his case. That is why he places #3 on our Ballon D’Or list.

2. Mohammed Salah

Mohamed Salah
  • Club: Liverpool
  • Country: Egypt
  • Games: 51
  • Goals: 31
  • Assists: 16

The outstanding player in the Premier League this season, Mohamed Salah has gone from strength to strength. 

Salah scored 23 goals in 38 Premier League games and won the PL Golden Boot; and went to the Africa Cup of Nations, where he finished as a runner-up, scoring vital goals for Egypt along the way. He’s also notched 10GA in his 13 Champions League games – and with Liverpool winning the domestic double in England.

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Salah with the POTY trophy

With the Ballon d’Or switching to become more aligned with what a player achieves over a single season, there’s plenty of hope for Liverpool fans that their Egyptian King will become only the second-ever African winner after 1995’s George Weah. 

1. Karim Benzema

Karim Benzema
  • Club: Real Madrid
  • Country: France
  • Games: 46
  • Goals: 44
  • Assists: 15

A second-half hat-trick against PSG, and Chelsea and a UEFA Champions League win for the 5th time confirmed that Karim Benzema is still a force of nature at 34. The fact he’s scored or assisted in most Real Madrid games this season certainly helps his cause: he hit 20 goals and 10 assists in just his 24th game of the season back against Real Sociedad.

Real Madrid were inconsistent last season and still made a Champions League semi-final, Benzema stunning the watertight eventual winners, Chelsea, with a sumptuous goal along the way. It’s the fact that Los Blancos won this time and they won the Spanish title race, too that places him on the top of our list.

Oh, and Benzema was a part of that Nations League win, too, with a goal in the final. He could be a good bet for the prize this time. That is why he is our favorite to win the Ballon D’Or as of now according to us.

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