Michel Platini talks down Cristiano Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or chances

The Portugal forward is strongly fancied to win the prestigious award for a third time after yet another standout campaign.

But Platini feels a player who performed well at the World Cup would be a more deserving winner, particularly a member of the victorious Germany team.

Ronaldo's Portugal failed to get out of the group stage in Brazil, with the 29-year-old scoring just once.

"The Ballon d'Or tends to go to a player who has performed exceptionally well at the World Cup, someone who won it," Platini told BeIN Sports.

"So this year it should be for a Germany player. It was always that way until 2010 when Leo Messi won despite having a fairly average World Cup, so nothing is for certain."

Despite his comments, Platini believes Ronaldo and Barcelona star Lionel Messi are the world's best players.

"The only thing that is certain is the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the best players in the world, nobody doubts that," he said.