Modric beats Ronaldo, Griezmann, Mbappe & Messi to 2018 Ballon d'Or prize

The 33-year-old became the first Croatian to claim the award after a year in which he has won the Champions League and reached the World Cup final

Luka Modric has beaten off competition from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi to be named the winner of 2018's Ballon d'Or.

The Real Madrid midfielder played a pivotal role for his club as they stormed to a third consecutive Champions League title, as well as captaining Croatia to second place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

With France having won the World Cup, Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and even Modric's fellow Madrid team-mate Raphael Varane had been amongst the favourites alongside the evergreen duo of Ronaldo and Messi.

Ronaldo came second, griezman third,mbappe 4th and messi fifth.