Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to crown a memorable year by being named the world’s best player for a fourth time tonight.
The Ballon d’Or ceremony will be held in Paris while Ronaldo is thousands of miles away in Japan, ahead of Club World Cup duty for Real Madrid.
But Ronaldo is expected to pick up the main award after a remarkable year even by his own high standards.
Real beat city rivals Atletico Madrid in May to become European champions for an 11th time and two months later Portugal triumphed at Euro 2016 in France to claim a major trophy for the first time.