Zlatan's win was his eighth in a row and his ninth total since 2005.
The trophy win was unsurprising for the footballer himself, who predicted future Golden Balls at the ceremony last year.
"There may be some people who are tired of seeing me coming up here and getting prizes – but I have more to collect so we'll see you next year," he said at the time.
Monday's affair was more sombre, however. Zlatan was close to tears as he paid tribute to the two people in the footballing world who had recently died of cancer – Klas Ingesson and Pontus Segerström.
"All these Golden Balls are testament to being good at your job. But it's all overshadowed by what happened to Klas and Pontus," he said.
"I had a brother who died a few months ago from a similar illness."
Lotta Schelin collected the prize for the ladies – her fifth.
"I am very, very proud to get this prize again," she said in a taped video speech.
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