Players to have won the Ballon d'Or more than once
5 - Lionel Messi
4 - Cristiano Ronaldo
3 - Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten
2 - Franz Beckenbauer, Ronaldo, Alfredo Di Stefano, Kevin Keegan, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Brazil's Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or twice, in 1997 and 2002
Positions 19-11 confirmed
19 - Eden Hazard
18 - Antoine Griezmann
17 - Toni Kroos
16 - Marcelo
15 - Paulo Dybala
14 - Kevin De Bruyne
13 - Luis Suarez
12 - Isco
11 - Edinson Cavani
We now know the following players will be in the top 10:
Gigi Buffon
Cristiano Ronaldo
Harry Kane
N'Golo Kante
Robert Lewandowski
Kylian Mbappe
Luka Modric
Lionel Messi
Neymar
Sergio Ramos
The big question now is: what order will they rank in?
Zidane: Ronaldo deserves fifth Ballon d'Or
Cristiano
Ronaldo is expected to be confirmed as this year's Ballon d'Or winner in
about an hour's time and his manager at Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane,
reckons the Portuguese fully deserves to win the award for a fifth time.
"Ronaldo's human, just like us but he is very different at times. He has no limits, really," Zidane said last week.
"The fact that he's going to win his fifth Ballon d'Or explains that. It's just amazing.
"He deserves it as well. I'm sure Cristiano is going to win his fifth Ballon d'Or.
"It doesn't surprise me. He wants more and more. He has the ambition to win a sixth or a seventh."
Harry Kane ranks 10th
Robert Lewandowski ranks ninth
N'Golo Kante ranks eighth
Kylian Mbappe ranks seventh
Just six players remaining now. They are:
Gigi Buffon
Cristiano Ronaldo
Luka Modric
Lionel Messi
Neymar
Sergio Ramos
I'm going to stick my neck on the line and predict Sergio Ramos to be the next player to be revealed.
Sergio Ramos ranks sixth
Called it.
Real Madrid and Spain defender Sergio Ramos narrowly misses out on the top five.
Luka Modric ranks fifth
Gianluigi Buffon ranks fourth
The final three.
Confirmed - Cristiano Ronaldo wins 2017 Ballon d'Or
What an achievement. Cristiano Ronaldo draws level with Lionel Messi on a scarcely believeable FIVE Ballon d'Ors
Final ranking of Ballon d'Or France Football 2017 :
1st - CRISTIANO RONALDO
What a player.
He's not had the most
memorable start to the league season in Spain but he was influential in
Real Madrid's La Liga and Champions League double last term, scoring 42
goals in all competitions, including two in May's Champions League final
against Juventus in Cardiff.
He wrote himself
into the record books again earlier this week by becoming the first
player ever to score in all six Champions League group games.
Ronaldo reacts to winning 2017 Ballon d'Or
"I feel very happy, it’s a fantastic moment in my career, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.
"This
year has been great, we won the Champions League and La Liga and, on a
personal level, I was a top scorer in the Champions League.
"Trophies help win these awards and we have to thank my colleagues from Madrid and Portugal, it was very important for me."
The full shortlist:
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Karim Benzema, Leonardo Bonucci, Gianluigi
Buffon, Edinson Cavani, Philippe Coutinho, Kevin De Bruyne, David de
Gea, Paulo Dybala, Edin Dzeko, Radamel Falcao, Antoine Griezmann, Eden
Hazard, Mats Hummels, Isco, Harry Kane, N'Golo Kante, Toni Kroos, Robert
Lewandowski, Sadio Mane, Marcelo, Kylian Mbappe, Dries Mertens, Lionel
Messi, Luka Modric, Neymar, Jan Oblak, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo,
Luis Suarez.
Sadly, it won't be in the UK. But you can follow all the build-up and reaction right here with Telegraph Sport.
What happened last year?
Cristiano Ronaldo crowned a memorable year by being named the world's best player for a fourth time when he won the 2016 Ballon d'Or on Monday night.
The 31-year-old Portugal and Real Madrid foward topped the poll of 173 journalists worldwide.
Ronaldo played a crucial role as Real beat city rivals Atletico
Madrid in May to become European champions for a record-extending 11th
time.
The pair have won the last nine Ballon d'Or awardsCredit:
AFP/Getty Images
Then two
months later, Portugal triumphed at Euro 2016 in France to claim a major
trophy for the first time - despite losing their talisman to injury
early on in the final.
Ronaldo, who has so far scored 48 goals in 52 games for club and
country during 2016, was not able to accept the award in person with the
forward currently away in Japan as Real Madrid prepare for the FIFA
Club World Cup.
Who is on the shortlist?
The 30-strong list is below, including England's Harry Kane:
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Leonardo Bonucci (Milan)
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Edinson Cavani (PSG)
Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
Kevin de Bruyne (Man City)
David de Gea (Man Utd)
Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
Edin Dzeko (Roma)
Radamel Falcao (Monaco)
Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich)
Isco (Real Madrid)
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea)
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Sadio Mané (Liverpool)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Kylian Mbappé (PSG)
Dries Mertens (Napoli)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Neymar (PSG)
Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Luis Suárez (Barcelona).
Who is favourite to win?
There's only one, really. It's rare you see Leo Messi with odds of 8/1 attached to him for anything.
Moscow's impressive State Kremlin Palace was the venue for the World Cup draw, which served up plenty of interesting match-ups.
WORLD CUP 2018 GROUPS
The 2018 World Cup will have some seriously interesting group stage matches, with Portugal versus Spain in Group B and Belgium versus England in Group G particular stand-outs.
There are also other intriguing games to come in Group D as Argentina take on Croatia, while champions Germany must face Mexico.
Check out the groups in full below.
Group A
Group B
Russia
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
Spain
Egypt
Morocco
Uruguay
Iran
Group C
Group D
France
Argentina
Australia
Iceland
Peru
Croatia
Denmark
Nigeria
Group E
Group F
Brazil
Germany
Switzerland
Mexico
Costa Rica
Sweden
Serbia
South Korea
Group G
Group H
Belgium
Poland
Panama
Senegal
Tunisia
Colombia
England
Japan
So, the groups in order of difficulty, according to Fifa coefficients:
Group E Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia Ave coefficient: 1069.75 Group F Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea Ave coefficient: 1048.7625 Group C France, Australia, Peru, Denmark Ave coefficient: 1039.3975 Group B Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran Ave coefficient: 1031.105 Group D Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria Ave coefficient: 986.7075 Group G Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England Ave coefficient: 957.88 Group H Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan Ave coefficient: 948.275 Group A Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay Ave coefficient: 700.41
The complete World Cup draw!
Group A Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay Group B Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran Group C France, Australia, Peru, Denmark Group D Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria Group E Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia Group F Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea Group G Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England Group H Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan
![[Gallery] This one photo changed everything for the pole vaulter, Allison Stokke](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tO7bRAdHCMbwPFsbDr6mVqR0qxwPo96DnE9o8MrPbsAm7ArhBwdb4zM3oqSQ3Cwc_7JpoK8111TvlrJMrlBHmEotZHGbGmRipQ7X-kJEn9QfB9MWJHRjOEcBfzWUuT6uk_r_xQ0GeORdOe_0nhcMwVsi-RPjBRD2fJjTgU0yC-N7KhqqbGbTGLLtI_CiYY9ZYfKCtDTbdaEslNAZ3XC5nI0XAIV5VNeBgYNKK1nnd35CpWIzaleApR5-GnjdbliiGgbRCBaILgUL3vNBewIz9BMriSjeHLsMfwZiEO1--Hb5JJ=s0-d "[Gallery] This one photo changed everything for the pole vaulter, Allison Stokke")
