Lionel Messi was voted as the winner of the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or on Monday, winning the award over Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar. Carli Lloyd won the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, while Luis Enrique won the men's Coach of the Year.
Messi previously finished as the runner-up for the award in 2013 and 2014 to Ronaldo and now Messi has been named the top player in the world. Messi won the award for the fifth time and it comes after he helped lead his club team, Barcelona, to the Champions League title and also the top spot in La Liga. Messi was very productive, scoring 52 total goals for Barcelona and his national team, Argentina.
According to FIFA, Messi won the award after getting 41 percent of the vote, while Ronaldo had 27 percent and Neymar received nearly eight percent. Ronaldo outscored Messi overall last year, but Messi was considered the favorite coming in based on how Barcelona performed across all leagues and tournaments. Barcelona won a number of titles, including the Spanish La Liga title, Copa del Rey, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
According to the BBC, both Messi and Ronaldo did not vote for each other in their own votes for the top three and that is something the two players never do. Some other players that received votes included Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta, Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale.
Some of the other awards given out at the FIFA gala included Barcelona manager Luis Enrique winning the men's Coach of the Year over Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola and Chile manager Jorge Sampaoli, while Carli Lloyd of the United States won for FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.
"It is a very special moment for me to be back here on this stage, winning again another Ballon d'Or after being there in the audience watching Cristiano win," Messi said, according to ESPN.com.
