Ballon d'Or votes: Roy Hodgson gives top spot to Cristiano Ronaldo

By Simeon Gholam

Image: Cristiano Ronaldo earned the vote of England manager Roy Hodgson

England manager Roy Hodgson voted for Cristiano Ronaldo to win the 2015 Ballon d'Or, while Ronaldo and Lionel Messi failed to vote for each other.

On the list published by FIFA, it was revealed that Hodgson also picked eventual winner Messi second, with Chelsea winger Eden Hazard in third.

Image: Roy Hodgson's votes

Last year, Hodgson caused a bit of a stir by voting for Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano to win the award, with Germany duo Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer his second and third-choice selections.

This year, England captain Wayne Rooney gave his first-place vote to Messi, and opted for Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller as his second choice. Rooney picked his former team-mate Ronaldo in third.

Image: Wayne Rooney's votes

England's media representative Henry Winter selected Messi, Ronaldo then Neymar as his three choices.

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Wales captain Ashley Williams and manager Chris Coleman both voted for compatriot Gareth Bale to win the prize.

Williams went for Messi and Robert Lewandowski as his second and third choices, while Coleman snubbed the Argentine winner entirely by opting for Ronaldo and Hazard instead.

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Image: Chris Coleman's votes

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan - like Hodgson - opted for Ronaldo over Messi, putting the Argentina international in third place behind Muller, while captain Scott Brown overlooked Messi altogether, giving first spot to Lewandowski.

Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill picked Messi ahead of Hazard and Ronaldo, while Michael O'Neill of Northern Ireland gave Suarez his top vote.

As for the top three, winner Messi left Barcelona team-mate Neymar as his second choice, instead opting for Luis Suarez as his top vote, while selecting his captain Andres Iniesta in third.

Image: Lionel Messi's votes

Neymar, however, voted for Messi in top spot, and also opted for two club team-mates in Suarez and Ivan Rakitic in second and third.

Image: Neymar's votes

Portugal captain Ronaldo chose Real Madrid team-mates Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez and Bale as his top three.

Image: Cristiano Ronaldo's votes

Germany boss Joachim Low kept it domestic by voting for Bayern Munich pair Neuer and and Muller as his first two, with Real Madrid's Toni Kroos in third.

Selected captains' votes

Messi (Arg) Suarez Neymar Iniesta
Kompany (Bel) Hazard De Bruyne Messi
Neymar (Bra) Messi Suarez Rakitic
Rodriguez (Col) Ronaldo Benzema Bale
Cech (Cze) Messi Lewandowski Hazard
Rooney (Eng) Messi Muller Ronaldo
Lloris (Fra) Messi Ronaldo Neymar
Schweinsteiger (Ger) Neuer Muller Neymar
Robben (Ned) Messi Neymar Suarez
Davis (NI) Messi Ronaldo Neymar
Keane (ROI) Ronaldo Messi Neymar
Ronaldo (Por) Benzema Rodriguez Bale
Brown (Sco) Lewandowski Ronaldo Muller
Ibrahimovic (Swe) Messi Suarez Neymar

Read the full list of Ballon d'Or votes here

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