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| Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have now won the past nine Ballon d'Or awards between them |
The 31-year-old is now behind Messi, who won the honor for the fifth time last year.
French striker Atletico Madrid, Antoine Griezmann, finished third in the vote.
Ronaldo helped Real Madrid win the Champions League last season and scored three goals when Portugal won the Euro 2016.
He has now won the Ballon d'Or in 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2016, with Messi the only other recipient of the award since winning it for the first time in 2009.
"I never thought in my mind that I would win the gold ball four times, I am happy, I am proud and happy," said Ronaldo.
"I have the opportunity to thank all my teammates, the national team, Real Madrid, all the people and players who helped me win this individual prize."
The former Manchester United striker has scored 19 goals in 20 games per club and country this term, to add to the 54 he got last season.Winners of the Ballon d'Or2016: Cristiano Ronaldo 2009: Lionel Messi2015: Lionel Messi 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo2014: Cristiano Ronaldo 2007: Kaka2013: Cristiano Ronaldo 2006: Fabio Cannavaro2012: Lionel Messi 2005: Ronaldinho2011: Lionel Messi 2004: Andriy Shevchenko2010: Lionel Messi 2003: Pavel Nedved
Ronaldo's teammate Gareth Bale finished sixth in the voting, while Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, the only Englishman on the 30-man roster, was eighth.
The Golden Ball is voted by 173 journalists from around the world.
He has been awarded France Football every year since 1956, but for the last six years he became the Fifa Ballon d'Or in association with the governing body of world football and was awarded the best player in the world.
However, FIFA ended its association with the award in September.
FIFA will award its own prize to the best male player in the world, along with the best player and women's team of the year, at the award ceremony of the best FIFA awards in Zurich on 9 January.
Ronaldo's 2016 in numbers
- 42 games, 38 goals, 14 assists
- Third best minutes-per-goal rate - 83.68 - of anyone scoring a minimum of 10 goals across Europe's top five leagues during 2016, behind Luis Suarez (82.57) and Falcao (59.6)
- Directly involved in 39 La Liga goals in 30 games - 31 scored and nine assists.
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