Thibaut Courtois, the goalkeeper for Real Madrid, has stated that he believes it to be "impossible" for a goalie to win the Ballon d'Or, the sport's top honour.
The goalie took seventh place in the men's rankings and was awarded the Yashim trophy as the finest goalkeeper of the year on Monday at a France Football ceremony in Paris.
Despite playing a significant part in Real Madrid's victories in the UEFA Champions League and La Liga last season, the 30-year-old finished seventh on the final shortlist, behind Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, Kevin De Bruyne, Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah, and Kylian Mbappe.
Despite allowing just 29 goals in 36 LaLiga games the previous season, Courtois was chosen as the game's MVP after making a record nine saves in Madrid's 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the Champions League final in May.
When asked if a goalkeeper could win the award again, Courtois told RTVE that he thinks it is impossible. He said, “The truth is that I think it’s impossible.”
He continued, “Obviously Karim deserves it, we all agree with that. But after the year I had as a goalkeeper, you win the Champions League, you win the league, you play the Champions League final and your team wins it thanks to your saves, and you only end up seventh […] that says a lot.”
“The votes don’t go towards goalkeepers, In the top 10, there weren’t any defenders either. It’s what happens. It’s a bit difficult. But at least they gave me the trophy for best goalkeeper,” Courtois said.
The Belgium international who was the highest-ranked goalkeeper in the 2022 list settled for the best goalkeeper award, which is named after Lev Yashin who was the only goalkeeper to receive the Ballon d’Or in the award’s history in 1963.