The Portugal captain beat Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to the award.

Wolfsburg and Germany midfielder Nadine Kessler was named women's player of the year, while Colombia's James Rodriguez won goal of the year.

Germany's World Cup winner Joachim Low won men's coach of the year.

Wolfsburg boss Ralf Kellermann was named women's football coach of the year after a successful defence of the Champions League.

The three candidates for the Ballon d'Or were all picked in the team of the year, along with defenders Philipp Lahm, David Luiz, Thiago Silva and Sergio Ramos, midfielders Andres Iniesta, Toni Kroos and Angel Di Maria and forward Arjen Robben.

Ronaldo received the most votes from a panel made up of captains and coaches of national teams and a selection of the world's media.

"I would like to thank all of those who voted for me," Ronaldo said after receiving the award.

"It has been an incredible year. I would like to continue the work that I have done so far. I want to try to improve, to become better as each day goes by.

"I never thought that I would bring this trophy back home on three occasions. I want to become one of the greatest players of all time."

Ronaldo, who picked up his first world player of the year award in 2008 and repeated the feat in 2013, was hotly tipped to scoop the title for the third time after completing another spectacular season at Real Madrid.