Cristiano Ronaldo wins FIFA Ballon d'Or

(Image credit: Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo on Monday won his second-straight FIFA Ballon d'Or, which is awarded to the world's best soccer player. Between his tenure on Real Madrid and his illustrious career on Portugal's national team, Ronaldo scored 61 goals in 2014. He also won player of the year honors in 2008.

Ronaldo captured 37.6 percent of the Ballon d'Or vote, putting him well ahead of four-time player of the year Lionel Messi and German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who each finished with a shade under 16 percent.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.