Fifth Ballon d'Or for Cristiano Ronaldo

In the latest round of the intense rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese star managed to win the 2017 Ballon d'Or. This is the second prestigious individual award of 2017 for Ronaldo, both times in close competition with his Argentine rival. The Real Madrid star also received the award for the best player in the world known as 'The Best' this year. Ronaldo has now tied with Lionel Messi at five Ballon d'Or titles. Ronaldo previously won the Ballon d'Or in 2008, 2013, 2014, and last year. This year, Messi finished in second place and Neymar in third. Gianluigi Buffon, the Juventus goalkeeper and Italy's national team, ranked fourth. Luka Modric from Real Madrid and Croatia secured the fifth position. Sergio Ramos, Kylian Mbappe, N'Golo Kante, Robert Lewandowski, and Harry Kane followed in the rankings. Ronaldo and Messi have both won five Ballon d'Ors, while no other player in football history has even reached four. Johan Cruyff from the Netherlands, Michel Platini from France, and Marco van Basten from the Netherlands each won the Ballon d'Or three times. The last player to win the Ballon d'Or besides Ronaldo and Messi was Kaka from Brazil, who won it in 2007 and has recently retired from football. Ronaldo, who has won the Ballon d'Or four times in the past five years, will face Iran with his national team in the 2018 World Cup. Among the countries whose players have won the Ballon d'Or, Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal have collectively won the award seven times. France has also succeeded in winning the Ballon d'Or six times.