No Surprise, Cristiano Ronaldo Won The 2016 Ballon d'Or
By Ty Duffy
Cristiano Ronaldo has been awarded the Ballon d’Or award for world’s best player in 2016. The award, now back under France Football’s control, comes as no surprise. Ronaldo won the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid and Euro 2016 with Portugal.
Lionel Messi finished in 2nd place followed by France’s Antoine Griezmann in third.
This is Ronaldo’s fourth Ballon d’Or and third in the past four seasons. He has also finished runner-up for the award five times. His Ballon d’Or tally is second most all-time, to Lionel Messi with five.
It’s not clear Ronaldo has caught Messi for best player of his generation. But, with only one fewer Champions League triumph, a national team tournament win Messi does not have, and Ronaldo’s track record in two separate leagues, it does warrant a discussion.