On Monday, Real Madrid’s Luka Modric was named the Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year, ending a decade-long duopoly on football’s biggest individual price by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Modric enjoyed a tremendously successful 2017/18 season that saw him win the Champions League, help his country reach the FIFA World Cup Final and win the best player award at the tournament in Russia. He is now the first player since Kaka in 2007 to be named the best player of the year ahead of Ronaldo and Messi, who both won the award a record five times over the past ten years.

Whether or not this is the end of the Messi-Ronaldo era remains to be seen though. Both players are still outstanding in terms of their individual statistics and if it hadn’t been for Croatia’s surprise run to the World Cup Final, it would have been hard to argue against Cristiano Ronaldo at this year’s ballot.

source: statista