Luka Modric has ended Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi s 10-year domination of the Ballon d Or by claiming world football s most coveted individual prize.

Modric helped Real Madrid to their third consecutive Champions League trophy before the midfield maestro played a pivotal role in Croatia s surprise run to the World Cup final.

Ronaldo finished second, unable to add a sixth trophy to his collection, while France and Atletico Madrid s Antoine Griezmann completed a Messi-less top three.

Here, we look at how the jury voted to rank the players selected as the 30 best on the planet by France Football.

1) Luka Modric

After a decade dominated by superstar forwards, Modric strikes a blow for the little man. A delightful midfield creator who has operat…

The French economy was boosted to the tune of more than €1.2billion as the country reaped the benefits of hosting Euro 2016.

Ten venues welcomed 24 countries as part of an expanded European Championship, with Portugal eventually beating Didier Deschamps France in the final at the Stade de France.

And a report undertaken jointly by the Limoges-based Centre for Sports Law and Economy (CDES) and the KENEO agency has found that the impact of officials and participating teams, combined with 613,000 visitors, poured €1.22bn into the French coffers.

There is no doubt that hosting a UEFA Euro is a massive financial benefit to any region, said CEO of UEFA Events SA, Martin Kallen, who was also the tournament director for Euro 2016.

UEFA Euro 2016 showed that…

David de Gea saved two penalties for Fiorentina, setting the stage for Albert Gudmundsson to score the winner in a 2-1 victory over Milan.

In a pulsating encounter that saw three missed penalties and two red cards, Fiorentina prevailed to halt Paulo Fonseca s Serie A winning run.

The hosts had the first spot-kick of the game, with Moise Kean s tame effort being kept out by Mike Maignan before the forward had a goal disallowed for offside.

Former Milan midfielder Yacine Adli did break the deadlock soon after, ricocheting a low shot in off the far post from the edge of the box, and De Gea kept them ahead at the break, superbly denying Theo Hernandez from the spot.

Kean had a second goal chalked off for offside in the second half and Milan wasted another g…

Roma boss Jose Mourinho raged at the performance of his side and the officials after a 3-1 loss to Milan at San Siro, before revealing he turned down the opportunity to manage the Rossoneri in 2019.

Roma were 2-0 down inside a dismal opening 15 minutes, while a shambolic end to the match saw their defenders Rick Karsdorp and Gianluca Mancini sent off.

Mourinho, while furious at the nature of Roma s collapse, also sought to apportion blame to the officials, who awarded Milan two penalties. The first was scored by Olivier Giroud, while the latter saw Rui Patricio save from substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The quality of the performance was not good,  Mourinho said. We gave away the ball so easily, our performance level was so low, but we were still in the …

Most people are probably confident in who’ll win Sunday’s clash between the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets but don’t let that stop you from reading on, as there are plenty of big betting opportunities in this game.

The Titans are 2-1 through three contests while the Jets are in a crisis already, with an 0-3 record and a rookie quarterback who has created as many problems as he’s solved for the Jets so far.

Before wagering on anything this Sunday be sure to check out our free NFL picks and predictions for Titans vs. Jets on October 3.

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If you’re holding a longstanding Super Bowl futures ticket on the Cincinnati Bengals, good on you, and can I “Burrow” the time machine?

Cincinnati was a massive underdog to not only win the AFC Championship (+10,000) but even make the playoffs, with the Yes/No postseason prop pegging the Bengals to be playoff-bound at +400 before the season started.

Yet, here we are. Cincinnati is still an underdog, taking on the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI on February 13, but a live dog at +170 odds. That’s about a 37% chance of winning the Lombardi Trophy, which looks a lot nicer than the 0.50% shot oddsmakers gave the Bengals back in the summer.

We run down the Bengals’ Super Bowl odds during their long and winding road to SoFi St…

After a long season, we’re finally at the Conference Championship games, and the first one up on Sunday will decide the NFC. The 49ers travel to the Linc to face an Eagles team that has looked like potential champions all season long.

With both teams featuring dynamic play-calling and talented rosters, there are plenty of elite players who could find the end zone. Don’t miss our best anytime touchdown prop picks for the San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles. 

For more, check out our 49ers vs. Eagles picks and predictions, as well as our 49ers vs. Eagles prop picks.

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As the Dallas Cowboys try to shake off the effects of an embarrassing primetime loss to the San Francisco 49ers last weekend, a Week 6 trip to face Justin Herbert and the rested L.A. Chargers looms large on the NFL odds board.

Herbert hauled the Chargers back to .500 before their Week 5 bye, and his steady excellence is in stark contrast to the under-pressure Dak Prescott, even if the MNF odds still have L.A. pegged as short home pups on MNF.

Suddenly a Dallas defense that looked spectacular in the opening weeks seems to have taken a step back — and it’s fair to wonder if some of that lights-out start was a result of facing more limited QBs. I’ll find out more about how the Cowboys hold up against Herbert’s cannon arm as I dive into the…

One of the biggest NFL showdowns of Week 18 takes place between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. It’s a “win and you’re in” scenario for the Packers, but they were in the exact same position in last year’s regular-season finale and were upset by the Lions.

Don’t expect Chicago to just roll over either considering it’s won four of five heading into this matchup. The NFL odds for this historic division rivalry have Green Bay installed as a 3-point home favorite. Here are my free NFL picks for the Bears vs. Packers on January 7.

Bears vs Packers odds

Bears vs Packers predictions

On the surface, it might seem easy to lay the points with a Green Bay Packers team that should be heavily motivated at home.…

The Philadelphia Eagles, coming off an impressive international win in Week 1, will host the Atlanta Falcons, whose offense looked much worse as questions swirl regarding Kirk Cousins’ mobility post-Achilles surgery.

Saquon Barkley made the most of his Eagles debut and is in a prime position to find the end zone once again in his first home game in front of the Philly faithful. That headlines our NFL player prop picks for Monday Night Football in NFL Week 2.

To fill out your MNF bet slip, don’t forget to consult Jason Logan’s Falcons vs. Eagles predictions and Ryan Gilbert’s spotlight on Jalen Hurts odds.

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