Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo swept to a landslide victory in this year's Ballon d'Or vote with more than twice as many points in the final standings as Barcelona rival Lionel Messi, and three times more than Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann.
The voting was done by 173 journalists from around the world. Each selected a top three, with five points going to the first choice, three points to second and one to third.
Parabéns @Cristiano !#ballondor pic.twitter.com/jnAgI0NDU1
Releasing the full classification, France Football revealed that Ronaldo, who won Champions League and Euro 2016 honours during the calendar year, collected a staggering 745 points in total, compared to 316 for Messi and 198 for Griezmann.
And while Barcelona and Messi fans are unhappy with the result, it was clear that there was only ever going to be oneplayer considered to be the best in the world in 2016.
So happy and glad to win. Thanks Real Madrid and Portugal National team.amazing year. Simmmmmmm���� pic.twitter.com/IQCxOA5PLg
For Ronaldo, it is a fourth Ballon d'Or award - the first came in 2008. He remains one behind Messi, who won his fifth last January in the final edition of the accolade bestowed by FIFA, but the Portuguese has further cemented his legendary status in the annals of football history.
The top six in the final standings was exclusively made up of La Liga players.
Messi's Barcelona team-mates Luis Suarez and Neymar took fourth and fifth place respectively, while Real and Wales winger Gareth Bale received enough points to finish sixth.
Bale's 60 points ensured he was well clear of Riyad Maharez in seventh place. The Leicester maestro earned 20 points and was the highest ranked Premier League player, while Foxes colleague Jamie Vardy finished eighth with 11 points to his name.
With six points, Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio surprisingly finished higher in the classification than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Robert Lewandowski.
Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Paulo Dybala, Diego Godin, Gonzalo Higuain, Andres Iniesta, Koke, Hugo Lloris, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer and Sergio Ramos all remained unclassified as they received no votes at all.
2016 Ballon d'Or Full Standings:
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