Ballon d'Or 2018: Luka Modric beats Cristiano Ronaldo to award in Paris ceremony

Eleven Premier League stars make Ballon d'Or shortlist

Luka Modric won the Ballon d'Or award for the first time on Monday, ending the 10-year dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Modric won the Champions League with Real Madrid and then guided Croatia to the World Cup final in July. He was voted player of the tournament.

"As a kid we all have dreams. My dream was to play for a big club and win important trophies," Modric said. "The Ballon d'Or was more than just a dream for me and it is really an honor and a privilege to hold this trophy."

Ronaldo was second in the Ballon d'Or followed by France forward Antoine Griezmann. France's teen star, Kylian Mbappe, was fourth in the polling. Brazil star Neymar, who was third last year, was a lowly 12th despite a domestic treble with Paris Saint-Germain.

Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg won the inaugural women's Ballon d'Or.

Re-live the ceremony:

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[3 December 2018 18:06 · Kishan Vaghela]

Luis Suarez is next out of the bag in 13th. 

The Uruguayan has led the line brilliantly with Lionel Messi missing on occasions, scoring nine goals from the 13 La Liga games this season.

That has come after his 31 goals last season which saw Barcelona reclaim the La Liga title.

[3 December 2018 18:09 · Kishan Vaghela]

Not where the Brazilian would liked to have finished after scoring 30 goals in Ligue 1 after just 32 games, which is a record over the last 45 seasons. 

[3 December 2018 18:10 · Kishan Vaghela]

He's not due out for a while yet in the listings, but this just demonstrates Ronaldo's Champions League dominance. 

[3 December 2018 18:12 · Kishan Vaghela]

Some top quality finishes included in here from PSG's star man.

[3 December 2018 18:26 · Kishan Vaghela]

Chelsea's N'Golo Kante just misses out on the top 10 in 11th, but it is nonetheless an excellent time to remember what a stellar World Cup the diminutive Frenchman had to help France lift the prize. 

[3 December 2018 18:28 · Kishan Vaghela]

Special events call for special people I guess.

[3 December 2018 18:34 · Kishan Vaghela]

His biggest fall of the season?

[3 December 2018 18:40 · Kishan Vaghela]

It's not a good day for the event in France after the leaks of the main prize.

It doesn't seem news has been kept in house either for the inaugural Kopa Trophy, which although not official could very well be true going on what has preceded us so far.

[3 December 2018 18:49 · Kishan Vaghela]

  ↵Neymar continues to divide opinion off the field as much as he does off it.

[3 December 2018 19:02 · Kishan Vaghela]

The favourite for the Kopa Trophy has arrived! And in much better attire than he has attended recent PSG games in.