3 Ballon d'Or records broken by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018

Modified Dec 05, 2018 08:00 GMT

The football world saw a new king of the Ballon d'Or this year, with Croatia and Real Madrid star Luka Modric taking home the most coveted award in the game.

The award was presented to the Croatian on Monday in recognition of his individual exploits in Real Madrid's third consecutive UEFA Champions League title win and his pivotal role in Croatia's first ever FIFA World Cup final over the summer.

This is the first time in a decade that another player has won the Ballon d'Or besides five-time winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Modric was tipped to be the player to do the unthinkable after he won the UEFA Best Player of the Year award as well as the Best FIFA Men's Player Award earlier in the year.

Barcelona ace Lionel Messi finished outside of the top three for the first time since 2006, while Juventus star Ronaldo finished in second place.

Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann and Paris Saint-Germain youngster Kylian Mbappe rounded off the top five.

Despite not winning a sixth Ballon d'Or, Ronaldo has managed to break a number of Ballon d'Or records this year.

We take a look at three of the Ballon d'Or records that were broken by Ronaldo in 2018:

#1 The only player to have been nominated for the Ballon d'Or a record fifteen times

The Portuguese ace has beaten longstanding rival Lionel Messi to a Ballon d'Or record, becoming the only player in history to be nominated for the coveted award a staggering fifteen times.

The former Real Madrid star has been nominated for the award 15 times between 2004 to 2018.

Barcelona star Messi is close behind as the Argentine has been nominated for the award thirteen times between 20016 and 2018.

#2 Ronaldo equaled Messi's record to become the players with the most Ballon d'Or top-three nominations

When the 2018 Ballon d'Or rankings were announced on Monday, Messi's move down to fifth place was perhaps one of the most controversial decisions to have been made that night.

However, Messi's ranking served a great purpose for his Portuguese counterpart Ronaldo, who finished in the top three once again.

Ronaldo has now finished in the top three for a record eleven times, thereby equaling Messi's record as the player with the most Ballon d'Or top three nominations.

#3 Ronaldo breaks the record for the longest consecutive Ballon d'Or nomination streak

When France Football announced their thirty-man shortlist months ago, Cristiano Ronaldo broke yet another Ballon d'Or record.

After being included in the shortlist, the Juventus ace became the only player in history to have been nominated for the award 14 consecutive times.

The record sees the former Real Madrid star beating Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who was nominated for the award for 13 consecutive years.

Edited by Pratyay Ghosh