Ballon d'Or 2017: Cristiano Ronaldo claims historic fifth Ballon d'Or ahead of Lionel Messi

Messi came second while Paris St Germain forward Neymar Jr came third.

Ronaldo, 32, received the award from France Football at a ceremony at the Eiffel Tower in Paris as he drew level in the all-time stakes with Messi, who by 2012 had won four Ballons d'Or to Ronaldo's one.

Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten are the next closest challengers with three wins apiece in football's most prestigious individual award. But Ronaldo's triumph extends his and Messi's unbroken spell of dominance to an entire decade.

The 2017 Ballon d'Or was recognition for a year which saw Ronaldo named man of the match in Real Madrid's Champions League final victory over Juventus, his fourth European Cup win, as well as collecting his second Liga trophy.

On Wednesday night, he became the first player to ever score in all six matches in the Champions League group stage.

Chelsea's N'Golo Kante was the highest-ranking Premier League player, finishing eighth, with Tottenham striker Harry Kane coming tenth.

Ronaldo thanked his team-mates as he accepted the award, later tweeting about the "unbelievable feeling" at winning for the fifth time.

He said: "This is something I look forward to every year," adding "Thanks to my Real Madrid team-mates. And I want to thank the rest of the people who helped me reach this level."

The Portugal international received praise from across the football community, including from Brazil legend Pele, who tweeted: "I would love to have played on the same side as you!"

1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. Neymar
4. Gianluigi Buffon
5. Luka Modric
6. Sergio Ramos
7. Kylian Mbappe
8. N'Golo Kante
9. Robert Lewandowski
10. Harry Kane
11. Edinson Cavani
12. Isco
13. Luis Suarez
14. Kevin de Bruyne
15. Paulo Dybala
16. Marcelo
17. Toni Kroos
18. Antoine Griezmann
19. Eden Hazard
20. David de Gea
21= Leonardo Bonucci
21= Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
23. Sadio Mane
24. Radamel Falcao
25. Karim Benzema
26. Jan Oblak
27. Mats Hummels
28. Edin Dzeko
29= Dries Mertens
29= Philippe Coutinho