(CNN)Cristiano Ronaldo secured his fourth Ballon d'Or title Monday, beating old rival Lionel Messi to the title of world's best footballer over the past 12 months.
It capped a successful 2016 for Ronaldo, who captained Portugal to its first major international honor at the European Championships in France.
Messi missed out on his first international title when Argentina lost to Chile in June's Copa America final -- he said that would be his last game for his country, but reversed that decision in August.
Ronaldo was unable to attend the awards ceremony in Paris as Real Madrid had traveled to Japan to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup, holding a six-point lead over Barca in La Liga after Saturday's win over Deportivo La Coruna. "For me it's an unbelievable moment, I'm so proud, so happy," he said in a pre-recorded interview. "Thank you to everyone who voted for me. Thank you to my teammates ... Portugal national team, and this trophy's for Real Madrid." Although the 31-year-old had to leave the field after just 25 minutes of the Euro 2016 final against host nation France due to injury, his three goals and three assists had helped drag Portugal to the latter stages of the tournament. It only qualified for the knockout rounds as one of the best third-placed group teams, drawing with Iceland, Austria and Hungary.
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Following the end of its merged agreement with football's governing body FIFA, the 2016 Ballon d'Or award -- now run solely by its founder France Football magazine -- was decided by a vote of 173 journalists for the 30 nominated players. In 2010-15, it also featured votes from national team captains and managers.
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