Ronaldo wins fifth Ballon d’Or Award

Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as the winner of the 2017 Ballon d'Or.

The 32-year-old beat Barcelona star Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain attacker Neymar to claim the prestigious award for the fifth time.

In the 2016-17 season, Ronaldo helped Los Blancos retain the Champions League, as well as winning their first La Liga title since 2012.

The former Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United prodigy is now level on Ballons d'Or with 30-year-old Argentine Messi, who won the most recent of his five awards in 2015.

Ronaldo also moved level with Messi at the top of the all-time Champions League group stage goalscorers leaderboard on Wednesday after helping Madrid to claim a 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane was the highest-ranked Englishman in 10th spot, while Chelsea and France midfielder N'Golo Kante finished eighth.

2017 Ballon d'Or final standings:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

3. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)

4. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

5. Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

6. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

7. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)

8. N'Golo Kante (Chelsea)

9. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

10. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)

Past winners Ballon d’Or

2008: Ronaldo

2009: Messi

2010: Messi

2011: Messi

2012: Messi

2013: Ronaldo

2014: Ronaldo

2015: Messi

2016: Ronaldo

2017: Ronaldo