After a year of near misses, Antoine Griezmann has ended 2016 by finally getting his hands on some silverware after winning France's player of the year award for the first time.

Griezmann, 25, has been voted French Player of the Year 2016, France Football announced on Monday.

The Atletico Madrid player succeeds Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi to become the 59th winner of the award.

After a year of near misses, Antoine Griezmann has finally got his hands on some silverware

Griezmann helped Atletico Madrid reach the final of the Champions League in 2016

The forward was top scorer and named best player as France reached the final of Euro 2016

FRENCH PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS SINCE 2010 2010 - Samir Nasri 2011 - Karim Benzema 2012 - Karim Benzema 2013 - Franck Ribery 2014 - Karim Benzema 2015 - Blaise Matuidi 2016 - Antoine Griezmann Advertisement

Griezmann has spent the year as the bridesmaid but never the bride, as Atletico finished runners-up in the Champions League after being beaten on penalties by rivals Real Madrid.

He was also part of the France team who were losing finalists to Portugal in Euro 2016, in which he was voted the best player and was also top scorer.

In the Ballon D'Or, he finished third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and has also seen his Atletico team endure a poor first half to the current La Liga season as they languish in sixth place, nine points behind leaders Real.

However, for Griezmann it has personally been an excellent year, as he has established himself as one of the best strikers in the world, along with the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

He has scored 36 goals the calendar year in just 66 games for club and country.