Cristiano Ronaldo named all-time Ballon d'Or winner, edging out Messi

A month-long public vote, thousands of fans logging in from every corner of the planet and a result decided by the slimmest of margins: Cristiano Ronaldo took home the all-time Ballon d'Or, the special award handed out by France Football, edging out Lionel Messi by a razor-thin margin.

The recognition wasn't generic. France Football singled out Ronaldo's 2007-08 season at Manchester United, the year the Portuguese forward scored 42 goals in all competitions and helped the club capture the Premier League and the Champions League. That campaign, in fact, was the one that paved the way for his first Ballon d'Or.

Ronaldo, 41, wasted no time reacting. He did it the way he usually does with his followers, thanking the massive support he received throughout the voting process:

Football belongs to the fans! Thank you to all the fans around the world, the all-time Ballon d'Or belongs to you too.Cristiano Ronaldo

The Portuguese Football Federation wasn't far behind and celebrated its captain's achievement with a message that sums up pretty well what this award means to the country:

From 2008 to eternity. The biggest winner of the all-time Ballon d'Or is Portuguese. Congratulations, captain.Portuguese Football Federation

The reaction also came from England and Spain. Both Manchester United and Real Madrid, two of the clubs that defined the forward's career, publicly recognized this new honor. It makes sense: he wore both jerseys during decisive years of his career, and it was at Real Madrid, precisely, where he went furthest in the individual race for the Ballon d'Or.

A career that keeps adding up

Because if there's one thing that defines Cristiano, it's the sheer accumulation of milestones. In total, he won five Ballons d'Or, four of them while at Real Madrid, in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Now, wearing the Al Nassr jersey, the Portuguese forward is closing in on a number that sounds almost unreal: 1,000 goals in his professional career.

And that's not the only record he keeps padding. Ronaldo is already the all-time top scorer in men's international soccer, with 143 goals in 225 matches for Portugal. Is there a way to sum up a career like this in a single award? Probably not, but this all-time Ballon d'Or works as a kind of collective tribute to everything he's built, from that season at Old Trafford all the way to today.