Antoine Griezmann Speaks on Missing Out on the Ballon d'Or Following Luka Modric's Win

Antoine Griezmann has sarcastically quipped that the Champions League would have to be "more important than winning the World Cup", after a Frenchman failed win the Ballon d'Or. 

Speaking before the announcement of Luka Modric's win on Monday night, Griezmann spoke to reporters outside the ceremony, suggesting as such following Les Bleus' wonderful year.

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"I am in my country where I am happy to be, it is good night and I want to enjoy it," said Griezmann, as reported by Marca.

"We will see the votes, it is good to be here and it is a shame that not everyone is here but for me it is important. It would be a shame if a Frenchman doesn't win it, maybe the European Cup is more important than the World Cup but we will see."

The eventual winner of the prestigious award was Real Madrid's Modric, who became the first man outside of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to win the award in the last decade - and becomes Real Madrid's sixth all-time winner. 

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Atletico Madrid striker Griezmann, who finished third in proceedings, had yet another stellar year himself, winning the Europa League with Atletico after scoring a brace in the final - he was also voted the competition's best player. 

He then won the World Cup with France, where he earned the man of the match award in the final.

Once it had been announced that Modric had picked up the award, Griezmann, 27, couldn't hide his disappointment - as reported by the Mirror.

"When I learned [I didn’t win], you didn't want to be at home with me the first two days,” Griezmann initially joked. "No, it's a great pride to be on the podium, to be a world champion."

However, the Frenchman, who was close to leaving Atletico in the summer went on to seemingly claim that it is the fault of his colleagues that he didn't win the award.

“I'm counting on the teammates in the club and the national team to be in Luka's place in the future," he said. “I won an Europa League, a World Cup – what else I have to do, I do not know."