National team captains have voting rights in this award, choosing their three best players of the year.

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2018 came to an end on Monday, but news of how the voting went down continues to circulate. Luka Modric emerged triumphant for the big prize, The Best Men's Player prize, beating Cristiano Ronaldo to the title by outscoring the Portuguese icon in the polling.

The Croatian, however, won less than half of the votes. With national team captains and managers, alongside media officials, deciding on the winner, only 29.05 percent chose the Real Madrid midfielder.

In second was Ronaldo, and he trailed his former team-mate by some distance, receiving 19.08 percent. Salah, who finished third, racked up 11.23 percent of the votes.

As mentioned earlier, national team captains have voting rights in this award, with the skipper's choosing their three best players of the year. This means that the likes of Modric, Cristiano, and Messi, all of which wear the armband for their respective nations, had a say in the outcome.

Both Luka and Cristiano made sure not to choose each other as their first pick, as the number one name on a player's vote earns five points. The World Cup Golden Ball winner went with Raphael Varane followed by the Juventus ace and Antoine Griezmann. Meanwhile, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner also went with Varane first, followed by Modric and then Griezmann.

As for Messi, his approach was hailed by many as he gave recognition where recognition was due. See how they voted below.

Luka Modric

  1. Raphael Varane (France and Real Madrid)

  2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal and Juventus)

  3. Antoine Griezmann (France and Atletico Madrid)

Cristiano Ronaldo

  1. Raphael Varane (France and Real Madrid)

  2. Luka Modric (Croatia and Real Madrid)

  3. Antoine Griezmann (France and Atletico Madrid)

Eden Hazard

  1. Luka Modric (Croatia and Real Madrid)

  2. Raphael Varane (France and Real Madrid)

  3. Kylian Mbappe (France and PSG)

Manuel Neuer

  1. Eden Hazard (Belgium and Chelsea)

  2. Luka Modric (Croatia and Real Madrid)

  3. Raphael Varane (France and Real Madrid)

Harry Kane

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal and Juventus)

Lionel Messi (Argentina and Barcelona)

Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium and Man City)

Lionel Messi

  • Luka Modric (Croatia and Real Madrid)

  • Kylian Mbappe (France and PSG)

  • Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal and Juventus)

Yes, after years of battling each other in the Ballon d'Or race, Leo finally voted for his rival after snubbing each other for many years. This move by the Argentine earned him praise on social media. Check out the best tweets below.