Cristiano Ronaldo breaks record for the longest consecutive Ballon d'Or nomination streak

What's the story?

Juventus and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has broken the record for the longest consecutive Ballon d'Or nomination, having been nominated for the accolade a record fourteen years in a row.

In case you didn't know..

France Football released its list of thirty nominees for the 2018 edition of the prestigious Ballon d'Or award in separate intervals on Monday.

The award is Europe's highest and oldest honour, and has been presented by France Football every year since 1956.

The winner is voted for by 173 journalists around the world, with one representative per nation, while the list of nominees is compiled by the editorial staff of the French publication.

For a while, the award was combined with world football's governing body FIFA's Best Award, but the association was cut off in September 2016.

France Football has now released their thirty-man nominee list, and it includes - Sergio Aguero, Alisson Becker, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Edinson Cavani, Thibaut Courtois, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Roberto Firmino, Diego Godin, Antoine Griezmann, Eden Hazard, Isco, Harry Kane, N’Golo Kante, Hugo Lloris, Mario Mandzukic, Sadio Mane, Marcelo, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, Neymar, Jan Oblak, Paul Pogba, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Ramos, Mohamed Salah, Luis Suarez, and Raphael Varane.

The heart of the matter

After being nominated for the Ballon d'Or on Monday, Cristiano Ronaldo is now the only player in history to have been consecutively nominated for the award - a staggering 14 years in a row.

The Portuguese ace beat his Argentine counterpart Lionel Messi, who had been nominated for the award for 13 years in a row.

What's next?

Both Ronaldo and Messi have won the accolade five times and it is to be seen whether either of them will notch up a sixth one this year.

The winner is set to be announced on December 3 in Paris.