Alexia Putellas a worthy Ballon d’Or winner but the limited shortlist illustrates flaws

Neglect of African football and a third win for the Spanish great does little to challenge narrative that the prize is reserved only for top nations’ players

After a four-year wait, Alexia Putellas is the queen of women’s football once again. Receiving the Ballon d’Or for a record‑equalling third time to continue Spain’s domination of the award, the 32-year-old reinforces her status as one of the greatest players of all time.

It was the sixth consecutive year in which the honour went to either Putellas or her international teammate Aitana Bonmatí, and it was symbolic of Putellas’s resurgence after her comeback from the anterior cruciate ligament injury she sustained in 2022, her refusal to surrender her career to that setback, and her majestic rise back to the top.

The midfielder’s competition‑leading 14 goal contributions – eight goals and six assists – in 11 Women’s Champions League appearances last season, helping Barcelona to lift the trophy, went a long way to her securing the most votes, as well as her starring role in Spain’s victory in the Nations League finals last December. Her new club, London City Lionesses, will rejoice in the prestige of having the Ballon d’Or winner in their squad but Putellas, who spent 14 years at Barcelona, made it clear whom she wanted to thank. As she said in her acceptance speech: “This prize is for Barcelona.”

Barcelona collected a clean sweep of the night’s bigger awards, with Cata Coll taking the goalkeeper prize, Pere Romeu the coach award and Vicky López the young player award, as well as Ewa Pajor finishing second behind Putellas for the main honour and Clara Serrajordi finishing second in the young player vote. It was almost a perfect night for the European champions, until their president, Joan Laporta, spoke bizarrely about his belief that their men’s team could win the Champions League this season, appearing to have eyes only for the men’s game despite specifically accepting the award for the women’s club of the year.

That slip aside, the glamorous ceremony at the London Palladium on Monday night passed without the sexist controversy that tarnished the early years after France Football belatedly added the women’s award for the first time in 2018. Progress has been made – the women’s game does now at least receive a prize for the same categories as the men, but the event still does not quite offer full equality. Specifically, there is still not quite parity in the lengths of shortlists. Why, for example, were 10 players nominated for the men’s young talent award, but only five for the women’s? It was the same for the goalkeeper awards.

The live show also demonstrated a disappointing lack of women’s players presenting prizes, aside from Lucy Bronze who was on stage to hand López her prize. Putellas receiving the Ballon d’Or Féminin from Michael Owen – rather than, perhaps Mia Hamm, Birgit Prinz or Sun Wen – perhaps served as a reminder that there are very few former winners of the women’s prize for the organisers to choose from – only Ada Hegerberg, Megan Rapinoe, Putellas and Bonmatí – because it was introduced so late.

Many fans will also have felt it was a shame that the dates covered by the relevant voting period – 3 August 2025 to 19 July 2026, effectively for last season – were based clearly on the conclusion of the men’s World Cup this summer, and therefore did not include this year’s rearranged Wafcon, which was held from 26 July to 16 August. Performances at that tournament will instead be taken into account for next year’s prizes. It meant, for example, that Cameroon’s Wafcon‑winning head coach, Valentine Nguele, was not nominated for the coach of the year award, and there was an overall dearth of African players recognised, aside from Temwa Chawinga becoming the first African player to finish in the women’s top 10. Arguably she deserved to be even higher.

Putellas was a very worthy winner of the main prize, although some will feel it is a missed opportunity for a player from one of the countries less likely to succeed in major international competitions to be recognised, given that the Women’s World Cup next year will inevitably ensure that the annual awards nights focus on whatever happens in Brazil. Poland’s Pajor, for example, finished second after a tremendous campaign with Barcelona but she feels unlikely to go one better next year, simply because of her nationality.

The same goes for Jamaica’s Khadija Shaw, who came third after firing Manchester City to their first domestic title in a decade – although the fact that she made the top three in spite of not playing Champions League football said a lot about how revered she is. Haiti’s Melchie Dumornay – the best player Moving the Goalposts had the pleasure of seeing play live in the 2025-26 season – finished fourth. Aged 23, her time may well come in the future, but it is most likely to be in an even-numbered year.

If Putellas continues her form, it would take a brave person to bet against her retaining her crown next year, as Spain target a successful defence of the world title. A humble role model for the sport, it is a privilege watching her grace the pitch with her deft touches, leadership and creativity and being a three-time Ballon d’Or winner is no less than her storied career deserves.

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