The 2016 Ballon d'Or was an award given to the best-performing football player around the world in 2016.
In September 2016, France Football announced that their partnership with FIFA for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award had come to an end and that they would revive the Ballon d'Or award, treating the 2016 edition as the 61st award.
Over the course of his career, Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has received five Ballon d'Or/FIFA Ballon d'Or awards, the most for a European player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo holds the record for most goals in the UEFA Champions League (140 goals), and the record for most goals in the UEFA European Championship (14), its qualification stage (40), and the FIFA Club World Cup (7), as well as most goals scored in a UEFA Champions League season (17 in 2013–14), most international goals (143), and most appearances in a national team (226). He has scored a record 954 senior career goals for club and country. Moreover, he is one of only three players to have made over 1,300 professional career appearances.
Collectively, Ronaldo has won 34 senior trophies in his career. He has also attained one title from youth and at least five titles from friendly competitions. All in all he had won over 300 trophies and medals by January 2021, with some of them dating back to his childhood.
The UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award (previously known as the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award) is an association football award given to the footballer playing for a men's football club in Europe that is considered the best in the previous season of both club and national team competition. The award, created in 2011 by UEFA in partnership with European Sports Media (ESM) group, was initially aimed at reviving the European Footballer of the Year Award (Ballon d'Or), which was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 2010 to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or. It also replaced the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award.
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the award the most time with 3 awards and is the only player to win it twice in a row. Female players are awarded the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award, introduced in 2013.
The Best FIFA Men's Player is an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, since 2016, to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. The award was formerly known as the FIFA World Player of the Year, which was merged with France Football's Ballon d'Or in 2010 to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or in a six-year partnership.
The 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the fourth year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 13 January 2014. The deadline for voting was 15 November 2013 but was extended to 29 November 2013 for the first time in history.
Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or award as the World Player of the Year. It was his second Ballon d'Or, after winning the award in 2008, as well as his first FIFA Ballon d'Or. Nadine Angerer was announced as the Women's World Player of the Year recipient, while Jupp Heynckes claimed the World Coach of the Year for Men's Football, and Silvia Neid the World Coach of the Year for Women's Football. The ninety-minute ceremony was hosted by Fernanda Lima along with Ruud Gullit.
The 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the fifth year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich on 12 January 2015.
Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballon d'Or as the World Player of the Year for a second consecutive time, having won it previously last year. This was his third Ballon d'Or win overall, placing him second to only Lionel Messi for the most wins in the history of the award. Nadine Keßler was named as the Women's World Player of the Year, while Joachim Löw received the World Coach of the Year for Men's Football and Ralf Kellermann the World Coach of the Year for Women's Football. The ceremony was hosted by Kate Abdo.
The 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala was the sixth year for FIFA's awards for the top football players and coaches of the year. The awards were given out in Zürich, Switzerland on 11 January 2016.
Lionel Messi won the award as the World Player of the Year for the fifth time, extending his own record of five wins. Carli Lloyd was named as the Women's World Player of the Year, while Luis Enrique received the World Coach of the Year for Men's Football and Jill Ellis the World Coach of the Year for Women's Football.