FIFA awards: Who did Ronaldo vote for?

First established in 2017, there are a range of prizes on offer, including the prestigious 'The Best FIFA Men's Player' accolade - the governing body's answer to France Football's Ballon D'Or.

Bayern Munich hotshot Robert Lewandowski is celebrating after claiming the award for a second consecutive year.

The Pole is the first back-to-back winner since our own Cristiano Ronaldo, who was recognised in 2017 and 2018 while at Real Madrid.

Lewandowski finished four points clear of Lionel Messi after all the votes from national-team captains and managers, plus media representatives, were totted up, with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah ending up third.

Ronaldo is the Portugal skipper, meaning he was permitted to nominate his top three players and FIFA makes all of the voting data public, so we can take a look at who Cristiano rated as the best of 2021.

Our no.7 was keen to recognise the efforts of Chelsea's Champions League-winning midfield pair of N'Golo Kante and Jorginho. Cristiano listed Kante as his second vote and Jorginho third, despite the latter's contribution to Italy's Euro 2020 success - a competition Ronaldo also starred at, winning the Golden Boot.

But the 36-year-old, who was named in the FIFA FIFPRO XI and received a special #THEBEST award for breaking the men's international scoring record, was most appreciative of Lewandowski's stellar efforts in front of goal, making him his no.1 pick.

Last year, Lewandowski overhauled Gerd Muller's 49-year-old Bundesliga scoring record and his 2021 tally of 69 goals in all competitions matches Ronaldo's personal best year, from 2013.

Interestingly, Ronaldo was the no.1 pick of 15 of his peers, including United team-mate and recently-named Sweden skipper Victor Lindelof.

You can see the full rundown of voting here.