Cristiano Ronaldo named FIFA Men’s Player of the Year

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award.

Ronaldo retained the prize after scoring 44 goals in 48 appearances in 2017, including 33 for Real Madrid and 11 for Portugal.

The forward collected his award at a ceremony held at the London Palladium this evening, with fellow nominees Lionel Messi and Neymar both in the crowd.

“Thank you a lot to the guys for voting for me,” Ronaldo said.

“(I want) To give a mention to Leo and Neymar to be here, Real Madrid supporters, my team-mates, my coach, my president – they support me all the year so I have to say thank you to them.

“We are in England for the first time and I win consecutive awards. This is a great moment for me.”

Lieke Martens won the Women’s Player award after inspiring Holland to victory on home soil at Euro 2017.

The Barcelona forward came out in front of fellow nominees Carli Lloyd, who collected the award last year, and Deyna Castellanos.