The Barcelona front man picked up his fifth award on Monday evening and the bookmakers immediately installed the Argentina international as their favourite for next year's trophy
It has now been a staggering eight years since someone apart from Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or.
That is testament to the incredible level that the two players are able to perform at on a relentlessly consistent basis, spurring each other on as they do battle for Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Messi being crowned the best player in the world would not have come as a surprise to anyone who took a look at the odds in the build up to the star-studded event in Geneva on Monday evening.
From 1/7 (1.14) when the three-man shortlist was announced, the 28-year-old was just 1/33 (1.03) to win the award by the time the ceremony came around, such was the confidence of both bookmakers and punters that the Barcelona forward would emerge successful.
The two best players in the world dominate the betting for next year's prize too, Messi is the 10/11 (1.91) favourite with Paddy Power who go 2/1 (3.0) for Cristiano Ronaldo winning the award for the fourth time after picking up the accolade in 2008, 2013 and 2014.
Neymar completed this year's shortlist and the Brazil international is a 10/1 (11.0) shot to succeed his Barcelona teammate in taking next year's edition.
The Spanish domination continues with Luis Suarez (20/1) and Gareth Bale (25/1) coming next in the betting ahead of James Rodriguez (40/1) and Andres Iniesta (40/1).
Manuel Neuer's quote of 66/1 (67.0) makes him the shortest priced goalkeeper in the market and should the Bayern Munich man win the Ballon d'Or, he would become only the second player of his position to do so.
Two French players join Neuer at 66/1 (67.0) with Karim Benzema and Paul Pogba ahead of 100/1 (101.0) chances that include David Silva, Antoine Griezmann and Angel Di Maria.
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