Has Cristiano taken the mantle of Ballon d'Or frontrunner?

A few months ago, the Portuguese superstar was not even in the running. While he scored a tremendous amount of goals, his season was not seen as being among his best.

The previous favorites

Luis Suarez scored more goals than Ronaldo and the Real superstar was unable to lead the team to true glory. Even though he was instrumental in the Champions League title, pundits preferred to attack him for waiting until the final penalty of the tournament and taking the glory for himself despite a poor performance during the match.

But then international tournaments happened and everything changed.

The rise of Messi

Luis Suarez seemed to fall behind in the race for the title after being left out of the Copa America. Meanwhile his Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi seemed to runaway with the status as favorite, scoring an astounding 30-minute hat trick and then leading Argentina all the way to final.

As Messi grew in stature, Ronaldo was criticized for a poor run of form at the start of the Euro 2016. His comments about Iceland were seen as venomous while his poor performance against Austria was jeered and mocked. He had a solid turn against Hungary but was again criticized for two anonymous performances in the knockout rounds.

But then everything turned.

The turn of the tide

Messi faltered in the Copa America final, missing a penalty that would have given his team momentum in the shootout and then giving up on the national side. Throw in the prison sentence for the maestro and Messi's status as the Ballon d'Or front-runner came crashing down.

Ronaldo meanwhile put up the performance of the ages against Wales, carrying Portugal on his back with a goal and assist in the match.

He is now back in the final with a team few expected to make a deep run in this tournament. If he wins it, there is no doubt who wins the Ballon d'Or. In fact, he might not need to win the final at all to get the prize.