Cristiano Ronaldo wins FIFA's The Best men's player award
Ronaldo was the heavy favorite after a stellar 2016-2017 season in which the Spanish-league powerhouse won its 12th Champions League title and 33rd La Liga crown.
The 32-year-old Portuguese striker received the honor from two former greats - Argentine legend Diego Maradona and Brazilian former star striker Ronaldo - at the London Palladium.
Real Madrid's talisman beat out FC Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and Brazil's Neymar, who moved from Barça to Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
"Thank you for voting for me. I want to mention Leo (Messi) and Neymar to be here. I want to thank Real Madrid for their support all year," Ronaldo said at the ceremony.
"We are in England for the first time, and I win it for the second consecutive time. This is a great moment for me. Thank you to all my fans all over the world. I appreciate that. I'm so happy, thank you very much and have a good night!"
This latest prize adds to Ronaldo's already crowded trophy cabinet, which includes four Ballon d'Or world player of the year honors, three UEFA Men's Player of the Year Awards and four European Golden Shoe prizes (a goal-scoring honor).
Prizes in several other categories were bestowed Monday night in the second edition of these awards, including Best Goalkeeper (Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon), Best Men's Coach (Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane), Best Women's Player (the Netherlands' Lieke Martens) and Best Women's Coach (the Netherlands' Sarina Wiegman).