Will Benzema survive the "curse" of the Golden Ball in the World Cup?

During the last decade of organizing the World Cup, which witnessed the establishment of 3 World Cups in South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, and Russia 2018, no player who won the Golden Ball in the same year managed to win the World Cup title with his country.

This raises the question again this year, after the French Karim Benzema won the award, and his preparation for the World Cup with the "Rooster" team during the World Cup hosted by Qatar starting next month. 

The current Paris Saint-Germain star, Lionel Messi, who won the Ballon d'Or in 2010, did not win the World Cup with Argentina in the same year, nor did Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the award in 2014, lead Portugal to the podium in the World Cup in Brazil, nor did Croatian Luka Modric. Winner of the Ballon d'Or 2018, winning the World Cup in Russia.

And attention will be directed to Benzema in his attempt to untie this knot, and end the curse that accompanied a number of great stars during their journey with their national teams for a decade. It is noteworthy that the last person who succeeded in combining the Golden Ball and the World Cup title was Italian Fabio Cannavaro, a former Real Madrid player, who won the Golden Ball and the World Cup together in 2006.

For reference, the Ballon d'Or award, granted by the French magazine "France Football", was previously awarded at the end of the calendar year, while it changed from the 2021-2022 season to be awarded at the end of each season, and during this year the World Cup is held at an unusual winter time. .

Benzema, who was the most prominent absentee from his country's victory in the 2018 World Cup due to his exclusion by coach Deschamps, will face a great challenge to lead the "rooster" team to retain the title in the Qatar World Cup 2022, after he led him to crown the European Nations League title last year.

At the same time, he seeks to confirm the reality of his potential and technical capabilities as the best player in the world, and to make the year 2022 exceptional in the career of the "exceptional" player.

It is worth noting that Benzema is considered the most successful player among the so-called “87th generation” in France, due to the individual and collective titles and awards he has achieved since moving to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 until now.

Benzema was crowned last season as the top scorer in the Spanish League "La Liga" and the top scorer in the "Champions League", and won the Spanish League and Champions League titles, and completed his success by winning the Golden Ball award, before entering the next World Cup.