Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted the Ballon d’Or from Japan, beating rival Lionel Messi to the award for the world’s best player.
The result was hardly a surprise after a 'leaked' copy of France Football showed the Real Madrid on the cover with the trophy.
The win takes Ronaldo within one win of Messi's record five gongs.
France Football, who founded the award, is to publish an exclusive interview with the winner which is said to have been done on Thursday last week.
The three top contenders for the award were all elsewhere for the ceremony, as organisers counted down the top 20 starting with equal 17th-placed Dimitri Payet, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
With Ronaldo in Japan with his Real Madrid teammates for the Club World Cup, Messi is in Qatar with Barcelona for a friendly and Antoine Griezmann’s Atletico Madrid were playing against Villarreal.
Few could argue with the judges' choice after Ronaldo's year, which has included victories at Euro 2016 with Portugal and the Champions League with Real Madrid.
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