Ballon d'Or 2022: Cristiano Ronaldo 'to attend' - Karim Benzema expected to win

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to make a surprise appearance at the 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony.

The Manchester United star hasn’t attended a Ballon d’Or ceremony since 2017 – the year he won his fifth and most-recent Ballon d’Or award.

He skipped the 2018 ceremony (won by Luka Modric), 2019 ceremony (won by Lionel Messi) and 2021 ceremony (won by Messi again) and wasn’t expected to attend next week’s ceremony in Paris.

Ronaldo is not expected to win the 2022 Ballon d’Or. The 37-year-old is currently the 10th favourite to win the prestigious individual accolade, behind the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.

There’s one overwhelming favourite to win the 2022 Ballon d’Or and that’s Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema.

The French striker played a pivotal role in Madrid’s Champions League success last season, scoring 15 goals throughout the tournament.

Benzema also won La Liga with Real Madrid, wrapping up the Pichichi Trophy with 27 goals. No other player in Spain’s top flight scored more than 18 goals last term.

Benzema and Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in the same summer (2009) and went on to develop a fantastic understanding together on the pitch.

During their nine years playing together, Ronaldo was the team’s main goalscorer. Benzema still chipped in with his fair share of goals every season but his primary objective was to play a supporting role for Cristiano.

Ronaldo will never forget that, at times, Benzema essentially sacrificed part of his game so that his superstar teammate could flourish.

Benzema never displayed any signs of jealously towards Ronaldo. He knew it was in the best interests of the team to get the ball to Ronaldo, who scored a