LONDON: Luka Modric has been voted World Player of the Year in the annual review organised by London magazine World Soccer, the longest-running such poll and which was launched in 1982.

The Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder deposed former club-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, who was runner-up ahead of third-placed French starlet Kylian Mbappe.

Didier Deschamps, who guided France to victory in the World Cup, was voted Manager of the Year with Les Bleus taking the Team of the Year prize.

Among other such awards, The FIFA world player poll was launched in 1990 and France Football did not expand its European Footballer of the Year prize,  created in 1956, until the mid-1990s.

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