Antoine Griezmann finishes third in Ballon d’Or voting

France Football confirmed Monday that Atlético Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann had placed third in the magazine's Ballon d'Or voting. Griezmann finished behind winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the race for the coveted award, given to the player adjudged to have performed the best over the past calendar year.

Griezmann helped Atlético to the Champions League final in May with seven goals in the competition, and two months later led France to the final of EURO 2016, later winning that competition's Golden Boot and Best Player awards. Griezmann's side lost to Ronaldo's side in heartbreaking fashion on both occasions, which almost certainly cost the Frenchman his first Ballon d'Or despite his 32 goals in all competitions for Atleti in 2015-16.

The 25-year-old still has much growing to do - check out his recent form if you need more verification - but he had on the whole an outstanding 2016 and should continue to improve on his way to becoming a consensus world-class player.