Cristiano Ronaldo can once again claim to be the world's best football player, despite losing out to Lionel Messi in this year's Ballon d'Or, at least according to Castrol's rankings.

Castrol, which assesses players from across the globe on a number of criteria, launched in September 2009, and for the first time, Cristiano Ronaldo is now the number one ranked player in the world.

A delighted Ronaldo yesterday stated, "It is an honour for me to top the Castrol Rankings ahead of such great players like Leo Messi and Thierry Henry."

He went on, “Now that I have made it to number one, I will do everything I can to hold onto the position.

“The Castrol Rankings measures performance over 12 months so I know the only way I will hold onto this position is to maintain my form. That is a great incentive to me as great players must consistently perform well at the highest level and that is exactly what I aim to do.

“Moving to Spain last year provided me with a great challenge and I believe this result shows that I have responded well to it.”

Lionel Messi currently shares second position with teammate Thierry Henry, both of whom have 964 points, one short of Ronaldo.