FC Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi beat longstanding rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar to claim a record-breaking fifth FIFA Ballon d'Or.
Gallery: FIFA Announce 2015 World Team Of The Year
The Argentine reclaimed the prestigious award after his Real Madrid rival had lifted the Golden Ball for the past two years.
Messi was instrumental in his side's treble-winning campaign and also scored in the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup finals.
Overall, he was involved in 78 goals, scoring 52 and assisting a further 26 strikes in 2015.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, had a hand in 74 strikes, netting five more than Messi, but provided the assist for only 17 goals. Neymar set up as many goals and scored 45 times for club and country.
While Messi and Neymar both lifted five trophies with their club, Ronaldo did not win any team trophy in 2015.
"I want to thank those who voted for me, of course my teammates, without them this would not be possible," he said during hs acceptance speech.
Messi received 41,33% of the votes, while Ronaldo and Neymar follow with 27,76% and 7,86% respectively.
Read: Gallery: 13 Phenomenal Ballon d'Or Winners
This is Messi's fifth Ballon d'Or title – he won it in consecutive years between 2009 and 2012.
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