Cristiano Ronaldo beats Lionel Messi to win FIFA Best Men's Player award

Cristiano Ronaldo has been declared the world's best male player at the inaugural Best FIFA Football Awards.

The 31-year-old Real Madrid and Portugal forward beat Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann to the accolade on Monday night.

Ronaldo earned 34.54% of total votes, while Messi finished second with 26.42% and Griezmann was third at 7.53%.

Ronaldo also won the Ballon d'Or in December, with both honours coming as recognition for success in the Champions League with Real and Euro 2016 with Portugal.

"Wow. It's incredible. It's not the first time but this award is the first time," Ronaldo said upon being presented with the award by FIFA president Gianni Infantino in Zurich.

"I want first to thank my teammates, my coach. I want to thank my family, my whole staff. I tell you, 2016 was the best year of my career. I had a lot of doubts but the trophy showed that I lived up to that.

"After I won what I did, I had no doubts. It was a year that was magnificent on a personal level, on a sports level. I would like to thank very warmly everybody who voted for me. To the fans, to the other players, to the media - thank you."

The Best FIFA Men's Player award is voted for by each of FIFA's 211 nations comprising the national team captain, manager, a journalist from every FIFA nation, and fans registered on FIFA.com for a player's performances from November 20, 2015 to November 22, 2016.