The four-time Ballon d’Or winner picked up the gong in London today at Fifa’s The Best ceremony.
Ronaldo lifted the La Liga and the Champions League trophies last season
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who has won the Ballon d’or five times, and Paris St Germain’s Brazil forward Neymar were runners up for the award voted for by national team coaches and captains plus the media and fans.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player award and the Ballon d’or, which is voted for only by the media, are now separate awards.
Real Madrid’s French coach Zinedine Zidane won the manager of the year trophy for his part in the club’s success.
Five Real players were named in the best XI of the year, with Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos joining Ronaldo, while Messi, Neymar, Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Dani Alves (PSG), Leonardo Bonucci (AC Milan) and Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) were also selected.
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud won the Puskas Award for the best goal of the year, which was the Frenchman’s scorpion kick against Crystal Palace, and Buffon was declared best goalkeeper.
The Netherlands’ Lieke Martens won best female player of the year, while the Dutch women’s national team coach Sarina Weigman was voted best manager after the team’s triumph at Euro 2017.
The event was attended by a host of stars past and present, including Diego Maradona, former Brazil striker Ronaldo, Frank Lampard, Sergio Ramos and Harry Kane, with winners decided by a jury of club and international coaches, media representatives and fans.
Ronaldo’s triumph stole the show, however, the 32-year-old receiving recognition for another stellar year in which he won both the Champions League and LaLiga with Real Madrid.
It means he has now picked up three of the last four Ballon d’Or awards, as well as the latest two FIFA Men’s Player prizes.
FIFA is running its own awards for the second consecutive time after ending its partnership with France Football’s Ballon d’Or in 2016.
