Ballon D’Or 2018: Real Madrid, Croatia Star Modric Wins Ultimate

Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric has won the 2018 Ballon d’Or, becoming the first player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the award in more than a decade.

Modric, 33 won his third successive Champions League in May before helping Croatia to a first World Cup final.

Ronaldo finished in second place, while Griezmann of Atletico Madrid and France came in third. Messi finished behind 19-year-old French striker Kylian Mbappe, who helped lead his country to a World Cup title in Russia this summer and was also awarded the first Kopa Trophy, given to the world’s best player under the age of 21.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who led the Premier League in scoring last season, finished sixth.

Before Modric won this year’s award, the last player other than Messi or Ronaldo to win the Ballon d’Or was Kaka in 2007.

Modric’s victory was widely expected — he already had been honored by FIFA as the world’s top player but the announcement lost much of its drama when a social media user posted what purported to be a list of vote totals. The list, a blurry photograph of what appeared to be a preprinted page from the forthcoming issue of France Football, began circulating on social media hours before the announcement.