The Real Madrid forward was named the winner of France Football’s prestigious award at a ceremony in Paris on Thursday.
The award caps a year in which Ronaldo has won LaLiga, the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid, as well as helping Portugal qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
I feel very happy, it’s a fantastic moment in my career, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” the 32-year-old said in the ceremony at the Eiffel Tower.
This year has been great, we won the Champions League and La Liga and, on a personal level, I was a top scorer in the Champions League.
Trophies help win these awards and we have to thank my colleagues from Madrid and Portugal, it was very important for me.”
Messi, the only other player to have won the award since 2008, finished second in the voting while Neymar, who joined Paris St Germain in a world-record transfer deal this summer, was third.