Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or for a fourth time on Monday night, beating Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann to world football’s top individual prize for 2016.
Ronaldo, who previously won the award in 2008 as well as in 2013 and 2014, when it was officially the FIFA Ballon d’Or, is only the second player to win it a total of four times, trailing only Messi’s record of five.
The honour caps a memorable year that saw Ronaldo win the Champions League with Real Madrid and the European Championship with Portugal — the country’s first major footballing silverware.
“It is a special moment. It means that all my sacrifice was worth it. I feel very happy to win this. I worked very hard,” Ronaldo said in accepting the award.
“A lot of people helped me get here, and it is not easy to get here. You can count on one hand players who maintain this level year after year. I am one of them, and that is a source of pride for me.”
Real Madrid are preparing to take on Club America in the semi finals of the Club World Cup in Japan.
Ronaldo, 31, has scored 51 goals in 54 games for club and country in 2016. The 13 goals he scored for Portugal are a career high for him in a calendar year.
His 31 goals in La Liga trail only Barcelona’s Luis Suarez for the most in Europe’s top five leagues.
Messi, 29, was the runner-up for the fourth time in his career after also winning the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015. He won La Liga and the Copa del Rey with Barcelona and helped Argentina to the Copa America Centenario final in 2016.
Griezmann, 25, finished third after winning the Golden Boot at Euro 2016, a tournament in which he helped France reach the final. He also played an important role for Atletico as they reached the Champions League final, which they lost on penalties to Real.
Only Ronaldo and Messi have won the Ballon d’Or since 2007, when Kaka won the prize.
Ronaldo’s fourth award brings Real Madrid’s tally to nine, breaking a tie with AC Milan and Juventus for second most behind Barcelona’s 11. Portugal moved into a tie for the third-most-awarded country, level with France on six — one behind leaders Germany and Netherlands.
Earlier this year, magazine France Football, which has organised the Ballon d’Or award since 1956, ended a six-year relationship with FIFA in which they combined with the world football governing body’s World Player of the Year award.
After the split, FIFA announced the introduction of its own Best FIFA Men’s Player award — with the same three finalists — to be announced at a ceremony in Zurich on Jan. 9.
The complete 2016 Ballon d’Or placements, as announced by France Football:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal)
2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina)
3. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid, France)
4. Luis Suarez (Barcelona, Uruguay)
5. Neymar (Barcelona, Brazil)
6. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid, Wales)
7. Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City, Algeria)
8. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City, England)
9-t. Pepe (Real Madrid, Portugal)
9-t. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy)
11. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund, Gabon)
12. Rui Patricio (Sporting, Portugal)
13. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester United, Sweden)
14-t. Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich, Chile)
14-t. Paul Pogba (Juventus/Manchester United, France)
16. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland)
17-t. Dimitri Payet (West Ham, France)
17-t. Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia)
17-t. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid, Germany)
Eleven other players on the original shortlist were not ranked: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli/Juventus), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
