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Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Ballon d’Or award for 2016 following what has been a fantastic year for the Real Madrid forward - as he not only lifted the Champions League trophy with the Spanish giants back in May, but also helped Portugal win their first major tournament at Euro 2016.
Ronaldo scored the winning penalty for Real against their local rivals Atletico in the Champions League final and was the top the scorer with 16 goals to his name in Europe’s premier competition.
Although Ronaldo had to go off early in the Euro 2016 final against hosts France, he led his side through the tournament. He also scored their first goal in their 2-0 win over Wales in the semi-final.
Ronaldo has now won four Ballon d’Or awards in his career and is just one behind his rival, Lionel Messi. The Barcelona forward had to settle for second place this year.
Frenchman Antonio Greizmann was named the player of Euro 2016 and the Atletico player was third on this year’s Ballon d’Or rankings ahead of Luis Suarez and Neymar, who were placed fourth and fifth respectively.
Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez was the highest placed player to feature outside of La Liga. The Algerian forward has often been tipped up to score on the oddschecker Premier League tips page, where he proved to be a crucial player in Leicester’s success in the 2015/16 campaign as the 5000/1 shots at the start of the season lifted the title in England.
Gianluigi Buffon was the highest ranked goalkeeper in the ninth place. The Italian is embarking on his 16th campaign for Juventus this season. The former World Cup winner won Serie A for the seventh time in his career earlier this summer.
The top players in the world will also be honoured next month at the Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony which takes place in Zurich on January 9.
Written by Ketan Patel
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