Cristiano Ronaldo Wins His Second Ballon d’Or

Cristiano Ronaldo has warded off competition from Lionel Messi and Franck Ribéry to win his second Ballon d’Or. The Portuguese player came first with 1,365 points, ahead of Messi with 1,205 after votes were cast by 173 members of the global media, 184 coaches and 184 national captains.

Messi had won the Ballon d’Or for the last 4 consecutive years, more than any other player in history. The original award was also known as the European Footballer of the Year award and this was merged with the men’s World Player of the Year Award in 2010.

Before this merge occurred, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco Van Basten each won the original award three times. Up until 1995, journalists could only vote for European players at European clubs, meaning great players like Pelé and Maradona were excluded.