Cristiano Ronaldo has been voted sixth in the Ballon d'Or rankings, the first time outside the top three since 2010, as Lionel Messi was crowned the winner for a record-extending seventh time.
The Manchester United striker has personally so far enjoyed a fine return to Old Trafford, although results haven't gone his side's way, with 10 goals and many of them directly leading to points.
Earlier this year, the 36-year-old became the most prolific international goalscorer of all time, surpassing Ali Daei with his brace against the Republic of Ireland, and has since extended that tally to 115.
However, in the eyes of Ballon d'Or voters, there are five better players across the calendar year as France Football handed out the Ballon d'Or trophy.
Ronaldo has previously won the prize five times, most recently in 2017 when he racked up an astonishing 946 votes.
But there was surprise and outrage from fans as 2021 saw him slip down the rankings for his joint-lowest finish in 11 years.
Ronaldo first hit the top three rankings in 2007 when he finished behind Brazilian playmaker Kaka, before beating Lionel Messi a year later.
The pair have been battling it out to be crowned the best in the world for over a decade, with the Argentine winning for a seventh time on Monday night, ahead of Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski and Chelsea's Jorginho in third.
Prior to his comeback, Ronaldo scored 29 goals in 34 games in his final season in Serie A, winning the Golden Boot ahead of Romelu Lukaku.
He snubbed the awards as Kylian Mbappe, Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Luis Suarez were in attendance.
Manchester United teammate Bruno Fernandes also made the 30-man shortlist but he could only muster 21st in the standings.
Ballon d'Or final top 10 rankings:
- Lionel Messi
- Robert Lewandowski
- Jorginho
- Karim Benzema
- N'Golo Kanté
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Mo Salah
- Kevin de Bruyne
- Kylian Mbappé
- Gianluigi Donnarumma
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