Ballon d'Or: Ranking the top 5 forwards to have won the award

#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)

Ronaldo displaying his Ballon d'Or to the Bernabeu in 2018

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first Manchester United player in over 40 years to win the Ballon d'Or when he did so in 2008 and this prompted a world-record transfer to Real Madrid a year later.

The Portuguese international had been stellar in his displays for the Red Devils but he took his performance levels to new heights with the LaLiga giants perhaps as a consequence of the direct competition with Lionel Messi in Barcelona.

While there might be plenty of players more naturally talented than him, Cristiano Ronaldo is the go-to when it comes to discipline, hard work, and dedication and he is the quintessential illustration of the maxim that 'hard work beats talent'.

If you need a player to step up to the plate and deliver your team when it matters most, the Madeira native is your man and the number of times he has almost single-handedly lifted his teams from seemingly impossible situations are too numerous, almost bordering on unbelievable.

Having been an above-average goalscorer in the Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo became a beast in front of goal at Real Madrid and left the club after nine years of optimum performance with a goal ratio of over one per game, which is astonishing considering that he departed the Bernabeu at the age of 33.

He once trailed Lionel Messi 4-1 in the Ballon d'Or race but has shown great tenacity to level things up at five apiece and with there still plenty chapters to write with Juventus and Portugal, we can be certain that there are still more iconic moments to come from Cristiano Ronaldo.