Luka Modric has received the 2018 Ballon d'Or accolade, becoming the first player apart from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the worthy award since 2007.
The center midfielder who helped Croatia reach the men's World Cup final in the summer is the first Croatian to win the valuable prize. On a historic evening in France, the ceremony had a women's category for the first time since its commencement in 1956, with Ada Hegerberg crowned the women's Ballon d'Or winner. The 23-year-old Norwegian scored in this year's Champions League final, playing a key role in Lyon winning the tournament for a third successive year.
Kylian Mbappe, who astonished the world after his prosperous Wolrd cup journey in Russia, obtained the newly-formed Kopa award for the greatest young player.
"An unbelievable feeling..."
"It's an unbelievable feeling," said Modric, who helped Real Madrid grasp on a third-straight Champions League before conducting Croatia to the World Cup final in July, its best ever appearance at the tournament.
"It's a big pleasure to be here among all these players."
Modric also acquired the Best FIFA men's player award earlier this year and becomes only the fourth player to win football's two greatest individual prizes in the same year, following Bobby Charlton (1966), Johan Cruyff (1974) and Paolo Rossi (1982).
It wasn't easy for me..."
Growing up during the Balkans war, Modric's father entered the Croatian army, while his grandfather was murdered by Croatian Serb rebels and his house was torched, forcing the family to escape to the Adriatic coast.
The midfielder has been pivotal to his country's recent rise, which now sees Croatia ranked the fourth in FIFA's rankings.
Men's Top 10 2018
1. Luka Modric (Real Madrid and Croatia)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal)
3. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid and France)
4. Kylian Mbappe (PSG and France)
5. Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)
6. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt)
7. Raphael Varane (Real Madrid and France)
8. Eden Hazard (Chelsea and Belgium)
9. Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City and Belgium)
10. Harry Kane (Tottenham and England)
Women's Top 10 2018
1. Ada Hegerberg (Lyon and Norway)
2. Pernille Harder (Wolfsburg and Denmark)
3. Dzsenifer Maroszan (Lyon and Germany)
4. Marta (Orlando and Brazil)
5. Sam Kerr (Perth and Australia)
6. Lucy Bronze (Lyon and England)
7. Amandine Henry and Wendie Renard (both Lyon and France)
9. Megan Rapinoe (Seattle and USA)
10. Lindsay Horan (Portland and USA)
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