Ballon d'Or proves the best players in the world are over 30

Karan Tejwani

Updated: 18 Oct 2022 09:29 BST
3 min read

Karim Benzema won the Ballon d’Or on Monday evening after a glorious year for Real Madrid, where he spurred his club on to success in La Liga and the Champions League.

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The Frenchman scored 44 goals in the whole of last season – a career best for a single campaign – and he won numerous individual honours earlier in the year to crown his successes.

At 34 years and 302 days, he became the oldest first-time winner of the award in 66 years, when the award was first won by Stanley Matthews back in 1956, and the Frenchman later admitted that age was just a number.

Benzema’s win also continued the trend of players over the age of 30 winning the Ballon d’Or, and proved that players at this level don’t always crumble once they hit that age.

Benzema proves age is just a number

The last player under the age of 30 to win the Ballon d’Or was Lionel Messi, when he won the award in 2015; since then, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Benzema have all claimed the prestigious prize while being over 30.

More than that, the top competitors for the award that didn’t win in recent times have all been either over 30 or approaching that number, such as Robert Lewandowski, Sadio Mane and Kevin De Bruyne.

This year’s top five of Benzema, Mane, De Bruyne, Lewandowski and Mohamed Salah are all over the age of 30 and it was the same last year with Jorginho and N’Golo Kante part of the top five.

This trend comes as little surprise: with the exception of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, the best forwards over the last few years have all been over the age of 30 and performing at an exceptionally high level.

Apart from Benzema and Lewandowski, the likes of Luis Suarez, Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ciro Immobile and others all got better once they went past 30 and that has reflected in their successes.

Le Ballon D’Or Du Peuple pic.twitter.com/IxsDmR2451
— Karim Benzema (@Benzema) October 18, 2022

Benzema’s win was deserved for his transformation over the last few years, and in 2021-22, he showed his best form, as he gradually became a completer and more rounded footballer.

The Frenchman spoke about the change in mentality since he turned 30 after his win: "I think there is no age to win the Ballon d'Or. There are players over 30 who maintain a very high level.

“It is a combination of work, tenacity and desire. I train a little more than the others and that has allowed me to get where I have come from,” he added later on.

Benzema’s started this season well too, scoring five goals in 10 matches, including a staring Clasico performance and judging by that, he’ll be close to the Ballon d’Or podium once again next year, proving age is just a number for him.