The Portuguese won after a year in which he enjoyed victory at the Euros and in the Champions League
Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the 2016Ballon d'Or winner, his fourth career prize for world player of the year.
The Real Madrid star, currently in Japan, beat rival Lionel Messi to the award for the world's best player.
The result was hardly a surprise after a 'leaked' copy of France Football showed the Real Madrid on the cover with the trophy.
The win takes Ronaldo within one win of Messi's record five gongs.
Ronaldo was presented the award at Real's home the Santiago Bernabeu before leaving for Japan.
France Football, who founded the award, is to publish an exclusive interview with the winner which is said to have been done on Thursday last week.
Cristiano Ronaldo trains in Yokohama, Japan, on Monday (Photo: AFP/Getty)
Ronaldo arrived in the early hours of Monday morning ahead of the Club World Cup (Photo: Getty)
The Ballon d'Or has gone back to being voted for by journalists (Photo: Getty)
Messi was Ronaldo's closest competitor and is in Qatar with Barcelona (Photo: FC Barcelona/Instagram)
The three top contenders for the award were all elsewhere for the ceremony, as organisers counted down the top 20 starting with equal 17th-placed Dimitri Payet, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
In a bizarre twist, the countdown made it to Gareth Bale in sixth before skipping to announce Ronaldo as the winner.
With Ronaldo in Japan for the Club World Cup, Messi is in Qatar with Barcelona for a friendly and Antoine Griezmann's Atletico Madrid were playing against Villarreal.
Cristiano Ronaldo trains in Yokohama, Japan, on Monday (Photo: AFP/Getty)
Ronaldo arrived in the early hours of Monday morning ahead of the Club World Cup (Photo: Getty)
The Ballon d'Or has gone back to being voted for by journalists (Photo: Getty)
Messi was Ronaldo's closest competitor and is in Qatar with Barcelona (Photo: FC Barcelona/Instagram)
The three top contenders for the award were all elsewhere for the ceremony, as organisers counted down the top 20 starting with equal 17th-placed Dimitri Payet, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
In a bizarre twist, the countdown made it to Gareth Bale in sixth before skipping to announce Ronaldo as the winner.
With Ronaldo in Japan for the Club World Cup, Messi is in Qatar with Barcelona for a friendly and Antoine Griezmann's Atletico Madrid were playing against Villarreal.
Few could argue with the judges' choice after Ronaldo's year, which has included victories at Euro 2016 with Portugal and the Champions League with Real.
1: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
6. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid / Wales)
7. Riyad Mahrez (Leicester / Algeria)
8. Jamie Vardy (Leicester / England)
9. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus / Italy) and Pepe (Real Madrid / Portugal)
11. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund / Gabon)
12. Rui Patricio (Sporting CP / Portugal)
13. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United / Sweden)
14. Paul Pogba (Manchester United / France) and Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich / Chile)
16. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich / Poland)
17. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid / Germany), Luka Modric (Real Madrid / Croatia) and Dimitri Payet (West Ham / France).
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