Zurich: Lionel Messi reclaimed the Fifa Ballon d’Or award for the World Player of the Year on Monday, after watching his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo walk off with the prize for the previous two years.

The Barcelona and Argentina forward finished ahead of Ronaldo and Brazil forward Neymar as he scooped the award for the fifth time overall, having previously won it four years in a row from 2009 to 2012.

Messi helped Barcelona win a Spanish league, Cup and Champions League treble plus the Club World Cup and also led Argentina to the Copa America final, where they lost to Argentina.

“It’s incredible, much more than anything I dreamed of as a kid,” said Messi as he received the award. “I want to thank my team mates, without them none of this would have been possible.”

Barcelona’s Luis Enrique was voted coach of the year. 

Barcelona technical secretary Robert Fernandez accepted the award on behalf of Luis Enrique.

“It must have been a very difficult choice because the other candidates very, very high quality,” Fernandez said.

“I shouldn't forget to mention because Luis would otherwise be very angry with me: Luis wants to share this award, given that there are so many people who have supported him in difficult times and good times.

United States World Cup winner Carli Lloyd, who scored a hat-trick in the final against Japan, was named Women’s Player of the Year.

Ronaldo ended last season trophy-less with Real Madrid although he helped Portugal qualify for Euro 2016.

Neymar won a treble alongside Messi at Barcelona, but had less happy time with Brazil, receiving a four-match international ban after he was sent off during the Copa America.

The ceremony, at the Zurich Kongresshaus theatre, was held against the backdrop of Fifa going through the worst corruption crisis since it was founded in 1904.

The sport is facing criminal investigations in both Switzerland and the United States, where some leading Fifa officials are among 41 individuals and sports entities who have been indicted on corruption charges.

Outgoing Fifa president Sepp Blatter, normally a central figure at the ceremony, was not involved after being banned for eight years by the Ethics Committee in December.

There was no president’s Award, traditionally awarded for outstanding services to the game.

Blatter was replaced by acting president Issa Hayatou who played a low-key role, reading a brief speech before the start of the ceremony and appeared on the stage when the awards for best player and women’s player were presented.  

Meanwhile, La Liga dominated the Fifa Team of the Year with only three of the 11 players not based in Spain.

The Premier League’s sole representative in 2015, Angel di Maria, is no longer in the side, and has left England to play for Paris Saint-Germain in France. Three players make their debut in the side this year, Luka Modric, Neymar and Paul Pogba.

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer retained his place in goal — and is the sole Bundesliga representative. The back four is made up of Dani Alves, Sergio Ramos, Thiago Silva and Marcelo — with Thiago Silva blocking total domination for La Liga. 

Similarly in midfield, Andres Iniesta and Modric are joined by Juventus’s Pogba, while the forward three positions are unsurprisingly filled by Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo — the latter two for a record ninth year. 

Barcelona and Real Madrid both boast four players a piece in the team of the year — whereas last year the La Liga giants had only had five representatives between them.