Karim Benzema was elected Ballon d’Or with the second biggest gap in history over his pursuer, the Senegalese Sadio Mané.
356. This is the number of votes that separate the French Karim Benzema (549 votes) from his pursuer, the Senegalese Sadio Mané (193 votes), in the election of the Ballon d’Or. It is simply the second largest gap in history between the winner and his pursuer. Only Cristiano Ronaldo did better, with a 429 vote difference over Lionel Messi in 2016. France Football revealed the detail this Saturday in its special edition.
The most prestigious of the individual awards was given to the Real Madrid striker on Monday, after the vote of 93 journalists from around the world. The detail of the voices confirms that there was no photo. It must be said that the Frenchman had an exceptional season, with 44 goals in all club competitions and two major titles, La Liga and the Champions League.
Read alsoBallon d’Or: Karim Benzema, the story of a crazy evening
Behind Benzema, players ranked 2e3e et 4e stand in a pocket handkerchief, since there are only 23 votes difference between Mané (2e) et Lewandowski (4e).
Voting details
Karim Benzema: 549 votes
Sadio Mané: 193 votes
Kevin De Bruyne: 175 votes
Robert Lewandowski : 170 voix
Mohamed Salah : 116 voix
Kylian Mbappé: 85 votes
Thibaut Courtois: 82 votes
Vinicius Junior: 61 votes
Luka Modric: 20 votes
Erling Haaland: 18 votes
Only four journalists did not place Benzema in 1st
In the details of the votes, we see that only four voters did not put the Frenchman in the lead. They are the Egyptian journalist, who favored Mohamed Salah (Benzema was ranked 2nd), the Dutchman who also placed Salah, the Senegalese who voted for Sadio Mané and the representative of Slovenia who slipped Kevin de Bruyne.
Mahrez 2nd… in Croatia
For the rest, some votes can make you smile or surprise. On the one hand, there are the pro-Mbappé who slipped him number 2 in Palestine, Ghana, Paraguay or even Ghana. Same thing for Vinicius Jr, 2nd in several countries (Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Oman, Saudi Arabia). Note also that Cristiano Ronalo, five-time winner, is absent from all the top 5 journalists. In the incongruous votes, we find Riyad Mahrez 2nd in Croatia, while Casemiro (Greece), Fabinho (Finland), Vlahovic (Iran) or Leao (Portugal) have slipped into a top 5.
