Cristiano Ronaldo has been awarded the 2017 Ballon d’Or at a glitzy ceremony at the Eiffel Tower as the Real Madrid superstar clinched the gong for a fifth time by finishing ahead of Lionel Messi and Neymar.
The superstar is now level with Barcelona’s Messi on five Ballon d’Ors following a 2016-17 season in which he won the Champions League and La Liga double with Real Madrid.
Ronaldo came out on top in the ceremony as organisers France Football revealed the 32-year-old beat out competition from the 29 other nominees to win the award, which is voted for by a group of 173 journalists.
Messi and Neymar, who became the world’s most expensive player when he joined Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona for £198million in August, finished just behind Ronaldo. Juventus’ veteran stopper Gianluigi Buffon was fourth.
David Ginola presented the show in Paris and handed the award over with the assistance of the Brazilian Ronaldo at a glamorous ceremony in the French capital.
The Premier League’s highest placed player was Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante who finished eighth while Tottenham striker Harry Kane just sneaked into the top 10.
Ronaldo’s Madrid team-mates were also in the running, with Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos finishing fifth and sixth respectively while Marcelo (16th), Toni Kroos (17th) and Karim Benzema (25th) also made the cut.
It is the latest individual award handed to Ronaldo after he was named FIFA’s The Best men’s player in London in October beating Messi and Neymar to the prize.
Messi’s Ballon d’Ors came in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015 while Ronaldo has been more dominant in recent seasons by winning four of the last five awards to add to his 2008 triumph.
His fifth award means he and Messi are tied for most wins, with two more than any other player in history. Michael Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten were both awarded the gong three times – under it’s previous incarnation the European Footballer of the Year award.
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