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World Soccer magazine, established in 1960, has been handing out their Player of the Year award since 1982, establishing itself as one of the most well-respected accolades in the game. Since 2005, the winner of the World Soccer Player of the Year has subsequently been named the Ballon d’Or recipient.
It was announced today that Cristiano Ronaldo has been named World Soccer’s 2016 Player of the Year, narrowly edging out Lionel Messi in a vote that will likely be extremely similar to the one conducted by France Football and FIFA for the Ballon d’Or.
The 2016 World Soccer Player of the Year is... Cristiano Ronaldo. https://t.co/BNvmTbQMyx pic.twitter.com/a00hHSwzAr
— World Soccer (@WorldSoccerMag) December 1, 2016
Ronaldo’s win puts him even with Lionel Messi as a four-time winner.
“The World Player award is recognition of the most successful year of Ronaldo’s career. After scoring the winning penalty when Real Madrid beat city rivals Atletico in a shoot-out to win the Champions League with Real Madrid, he then captained Portugal to their first international success, at Euro 2016,” reads the statement from World Soccer.
Here’s how the voting finished:
1 Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid & Portugal - 842
2 Lionel Messi, Barcelona & Argentina - 712
3 Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid & France - 559
4 Luis Suarez, Barcelona & Uruguay - 498
5 Gareth Bale, Real Madrid & Wales - 497
6 Neymar, Barcelona & Brazil - 405
7 Riyad Mahrez, Leicester City & Algeria - 134
8 Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich & Poland - 117
9 N’Golo Kante, Leicester City/Chelsea & France - 93
10 Jamie Vardy, Leicester City & England - 87
The points are awarded based off the selections of votes from a panel of 100 journalists and pundits who are asked to chose their top 10 players of the year.
