Ronaldo scores

The Real Madrid player won his fourth Ballon d’Or award, one short of Lionel Messi’s fifth

Cristiano Ronaldo has won his this year's Ballon d’Or prize. Gerard Julien / AFP

After winning a European Championship for Portugal and another Champions League trophy for his club, Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo ended the year with something just for himself – his fourth Ballon d’Or award for world’s best footballer. The 31-year-old is now one behind Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who took the honour for a fifth time last year.

It’s remarkable that the two players have dominated world football since Ronaldo won the title in 2008. Messi picked up his first crown the year after and the two have swapped possession of it ever since. Despite constant debate about who’s the best, there is little to separate the pair, who are two of the finest players to ever play the game of football. Both have comparable goal-scoring records and have won many titles and individual honours. In fact, the only real way to separate them seems to be by personal taste.

In a year or two, another player may break their duopoly. For now, we should salute their extraordinary talent.