At 34, the Real Madrid No.9 was preferred to his partner Thibaut Courtois and the Belgian from Manchester City Kevin de Bruyne, logically surpassed by the Madrid striker.
Winner of the Spanish Championship and the Champions League, author of 44 goals in 46 matches with Real and winner in the selection of the modest Nations League with the Blues, Benzema has had a full season, which opens the doors to him. a first Ballon d'Or, during the ceremony scheduled for October 17 in Paris.
The former Lyonnais becomes the second French player to be awarded this European Confederation prize in his current configuration after Franck Ribéry in 2013. Before him, two Real Madrid players had been crowned: Cristiano Ronaldo (2014, 2016, 2017) and Luka Modric in 2018.
"KB9" succeeds the Italian Jorginho, winner in 2021 of the Euro and the Champions League with Chelsea.
N'Golo Kanté finished second.
The UEFA Player of the Year award is decided by a jury made up of "European Cup participating clubs" and a "group of journalists", including AFP, according to UEFA.
Players are judged on their performance in "all competitions, domestic and international".
The tighter women's prize went to the Spaniard Alexia Putellas, holder of the Ballon d'Or.
The Barcelona player is a surprise because she did not play the Euros due to a serious knee injury on the eve of the start of the competition.
Champions League finalist (3-1 defeat against Lyon) and Spanish champion with 30 wins in 30 matches, Putellas (28) is ahead in particular of the Englishwoman Beth Mead, yet crowned European champion at home with the " Lionesses" and named the best player of the competition, which she finished as co-top scorer.
The 20-year-old German Lena Oberdorf was also mentioned among the three finalists.
The prize for the best coach was given to Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid), architect of the 14th C1 of the Madrid club, while for the women's teams, it was the coach of England, the Dutch Sarina Wiegman, who was sacred.
© 2022 AFP