Barcelona forward Lionel Messi picked up an expected fifth Ballon d'Or on Monday evening, beating Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar to the title of World Player of the Year.
Handed the award after a truly remarkable 2015, the Argentine picked up the gong for the first time since 2012, following being voted for by national team captain's, coaches and esteemed members of the media.
Messi's unforgettable year
It's hard to pick out few highlights from the 28-year-old's year, as there were simply so many. Forming a fearsome trio with the aforementioned Neymar, and striker Luis Suarez, the three led Barcelona to unmatched glory, scoring a combined 122 goals last season.
With Los Cules ending the 2014-15 campaign celebrating an amazing treble win, Messi was at the fore-front of each triumph, in the Champions League, Copa del Ray and La Liga.
Finishing the season with 58 goals in 57 games, he took his career tally past 400, with two goals in particular standing out. One, being against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi finals. Having already scored in the tie, Messi followed it up with a superb solo goal, dribbling past Jerome Boateng before dinking the ball over Manuel Neuer, a pair of players often dubbed as the best defender and goalkeeper in the world respectively.
A goal of that magnitude was hard to follow up, but Messi managed the feat, with another unbelievable solo goal coming in the Copa del Ray final, a 3-1 win against Athletic Bilbao. Taking the ball just inside the opposition half, Messi took on four players down the right wing, before jinking inside and slamming the ball inside the goalkeeper's near post, from what looked like an impossible angle.
Not only did he star for his club, but Messi was on top form nationally too, inches away from guiding Argentina to victory in the Copa America. Gaining three assists in the 6-1 semi-final rout of Paraguay, Messi and co hoped to win in the final, but were defeated on penalties by Chile, with their star player the only man to convert his penalty.
Title number five for Messi
Winning a record fifth title came as no surprise given his achievements in 2015, as Messi ensured that each of the last eight Ballon d'Or's have been won by either himself or Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Argentine has established himself as the world's best, and potentially even the best we've ever seen, but you have to feel that the grip he and Ronaldo have on the award is slowly slipping away.
Brazilian superstar Neymar is getting closer and closer to the record-breaking pair year upon year, and next year's award will be one to watch out for, with Ronaldo too sure to re-double his efforts in an attempt to win his fourth.
However, all of that is for time to come, and for now the fact remains - Lionel Messi is the best footballer on Earth.