'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo picked up the fifth Ballon d'Or award of his career in Paris on Thursday. The Portuguese international came ahead of Barcelona star man Lionel Messi and Paris Saint Germain forward Neymar to win the prestigious award for the second time in a row.
France Football and L'Equipe, who organise the award ceremony, started off by releasing the names of the five players who are ranked 30th to 25th on the list of players nominated for the award. They further revealed the names of players according to their ranks in ascending order.
In the end it all came down to Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar, from whom the 32-year-old emerged victorious.
Here are the rankings of the players (along with their nicknames given by L'Equipe) nominated for the Ballon d'Or award 2017:
29. Philippe Coutinho and Dries Mertens
28. Edin Dzeko
27. Mats Hummels
26. Jan Oblak
25. Karim Benzema
24. Radamel Falcao
23. Sadio Mane
21. Leonardo Bonucci and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang
20. David de Gea
19. Eden Hazard
18. Antoine Griezmann
17. Toni Kroos
16. Marcelo Viera
15. Paulo Dybala
14. Kevin de Bruyne
13. Luis Suarez
12. Isco Alcaron
11. Edinson Cavani
10. Harry Kane
9. Robert Lewandowski
8. N'Golo Kante
7. Kylian Mbappe
6. Sergio Ramos
5. Luka Modric
4. Gianluigi Buffon
3. Neymar Jr
2. Lionel Messi
And...
1.Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo, the winner of the award, had won the Best FIFA Men's Player and UEFA Best Player in Europe awards earlier this year. This Ballon d'Or win means that the former Manchester United man has now equalled Messi's tally of five, hence making the 2018 award ceremony already interesting as the football fans will get to see who of the two takes the lead or if someone else puts an end to the Ronaldo-Messi dominance.
