Cristiano Ronaldo wins Ballon d'Or as world's best soccer player for fourth time

Cristiano Ronaldo is your Ballon d’Or winner as the best male soccer player on the planet for 2016. It comes as no surprise.

Mostly because Ronaldo enjoyed a truly transcendent year by winning the UEFA Champions League title with Real Madrid in May and then finally bringing home silverware for his native Portugal at a triumphant European Championships in July. Also, the 31-year-old continues to respond to ongoing criticism that he’s over-the-hill by continuing to produce for Real this season with 10 goals in 11 La Liga games.

But the soccer world already had a pretty good hunch on Monday that Ronaldo would beat out Lionel Messi and longshot finalist Antoine Griezmann for his fourth Ballon d’Or trophy when a certain magazine cover started making the rounds on the web.

France Football's Cover for their magazine with The Winner of Ballon d'Or Cristiano Ronaldo. #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/DSBHHbX9zI

— RMadridBabe (@RMadridBabe) December 12, 2016

France Football is the magazine that conducts the balloting of journalists for the award, and it appears that a leaked cover of the upcoming issue with the words “BALLON D’OR 2016, SACRÉ CRISTIANO RONALDO!” gave the news away, hours before the actual announcement.

Ronaldo was definitely deserving. He has scored an incredible 48 goals in 52 games for club and country this year at a time when most attacking players begin their inevitable decline in form. One can point to Ronaldo playing just 25 minutes in the Euro 2016 final due to a knee injury, but he proved to be an inspiration for Portugal to beat host France in extra time.

“I am happy for this moment right now,” Ronaldo said in a pre-taped ceremony. He is with Real Madrid in Japan for this week’s FIFA Club World Cup.

“This trophy is for Real Madrid,” he added.

Messi’s year, ultimately and cruelly, was defined by disappointment.

For club, his Barcelona was ousted from the Champions League quarterfinals by nemesis Atletico Madrid, and for country, he led Argentina to the Copa America Centenario final only to lose a major tournament title game for the third straight summer (the Argentines lost the finals of the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Copa America as well). The penalty-shootout defeat to Chile in July was so painful that Messi announced his retirement from international duty immediately afterward, only to reconsider his decision and return to the national team in September for World Cup qualifying.

Ronaldo’s Ballon d’Or victory continues the domination of world player honors by Ronaldo and Messi, who won for a fifth time last year. The two have combined to capture the last nine Ballon d’Ors, with Kaka in 2007 being the last winner not named Messi or Ronaldo.