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Ballon d'Or rankings: Messi finishes 5th, Ronaldo runner-up

FRANCK FIFE / AFP / Getty

The race for the 2018 Ballon d'Or has concluded, and so has a decade of dual dominance.

France Football magazine revealed the official ranking of the 30 finalists for the prestigious individual award, releasing the names in batches throughout Monday.

Luka Modric was the favorite to capture this year's honor and ultimately did just that, becoming the first Balkan winner of the award since Bulgaria's Hristo Stoichkov in 1994.

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona icon Lionel Messi had combined to win the last 10 awards, with AC Milan's Kaka in 2007 the most recent winner from outside that duopoly.

Ronaldo finished as runner-up to his former Real Madrid teammate Modric, while Messi placed fifth, his lowest ranking since he finished joint-20th as a 19-year-old back in 2006.

Here's how the 30 finalists stacked up:

Rank Player Club National Team
1 Luka Modric Real Madrid Croatia
2 Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus Portugal
3 Antoine Griezmann Atletico Madrid France
4 Kylian Mbappe PSG France
5 Lionel Messi Barcelona Argentina
6 Mohamed Salah Liverpool Egypt
7 Raphael Varane Real Madrid France
8 Eden Hazard Chelsea Belgium
9 Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City Belgium
10 Harry Kane Tottenham England
11 N'Golo Kante Chelsea France
12 Neymar PSG Brazil
13 Luis Suarez Barcelona Uruguay
14 Thibaut Courtois Real Madrid Belgium
15 Paul Pogba Manchester United France
16 Sergio Aguero Manchester City Argentina
17e Gareth Bale Real Madrid Wales
17e Karim Benzema Real Madrid France
19e Roberto Firmino Liverpool Brazil
19e Ivan Rakitic Barcelona Croatia
19e Sergio Ramos Real Madrid Spain
22e Edinson Cavani PSG Uruguay
22e Sadio Mane Liverpool Senegal
22e Marcelo Real Madrid Brazil
25e Alisson Liverpool Brazil
25e Mario Mandzukic Juventus Croatia
25e Jan Oblak Atletico Madrid Slovenia
28 Diego Godin Atletico Madrid Uruguay
29e Isco Real Madrid Spain
29e Hugo Lloris Tottenham Hotspur France

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