Spain and Barcelona have applied a stranglehold to the Ballon d’Or Feminin over the past four years.
Following Alexia Putellas’ back-to-back wins in 2021 and 2022, Aitana Bonmati won the 2023 prize and retained the trophy in 2024.
Indeed, last year, Caroline Graham Hansen and Salma Paralluelo completed an all-Blaugrana podium.
European football’s dominant forces have not had things all their own way in 2024/25, though. Arsenal shocked Barca in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Then, with many of the same personnel present and correct, England edged out Spain on penalties in the Euro 2025 final to retain their European title.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, those two nations dominate our rankings as we assess the top contenders for the biggest individual prize in women’s football, which will be awarded on Sept. 22 in Paris.
MORE: Women’s Euro 2025 team of the tournament: The Sporting News picks best XI after England win title
Ballon d’Or Feminin rankings 2025: Potential winners, top candidates
Here are our top 10 players in contention for the Ballon d’Or Feminin. The award is decided based on performances from the 2024/25 season as opposed to the calendar year.
10) Lucy Bronze (Chelsea and England)
Bronze garnished one of the great careers of her era by winning the English domestic treble with an indomitable Chelsea side, even scoring the WSL title-clinching goal for Sonia Bompastor’s side at Manchester United.
The all-action right-back’s knack for vital goals was never more evident than when she bravely dispatched a back-post header to spark England’s thrilling late comeback against Sweden in the Euro 2025 quarterfinal.
Despite playing with a heavily strapped right leg, Bronze venomously smashed home her penalty amid a haphazard shootout as the Lionesses progressed.
For all that trophies and achievements are the hard currencies that count for so much in terms of Ballon d’Or votes, an over-arching narrative also helps. Bronze’s remarkable admission that she played all of the Euros with a fractured tibia certainly ticks that box.
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9) Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride and Zambia)
NWSL representation has been sparse at the business end of the Ballon d’Or ballot since Megan Rapinoe’s 2019 win. Banda is certainly worthy of consideration after her four goals in the playoffs fired Orlando to the title in 2024.
She started the 2025 season in fine fettle with eight goals in her first 14 matches. A strong showing from Zambia at the Africa Cup of Nations might have put her over the top, but, after scoring twice in the group stage, she was powerless to prevent a 5-0 quarterfinal thrashing at the hands of eventual winners Nigeria.
8) Claudia Pina (Barcelona and Spain)
Montse Tome’s decision to bench Pina for the Euros final is one that might be pondered for years to come. The diminutive attacker has proved to be one of the most thrilling players in Europe this term, taking the Champions League Golden Boot with 10 goals in nine games.
Pina also netted a match-winning brace as Barca beat Atletico Madrid 2-0 in the Copa de la Reina final. That was four days after she scored both goals in Spain’s 2-1 comeback win over England in the Nations League — an incredible impact from the bench that she was unable to repeat with the European title on the line.
7) Sandy Baltimore (Chelsea and France)
It’s tricky to pick individual standouts from within Chelsea’s imperious collective, but Baltimore’s magnificent debut season in England is worthy of considerable plaudits.
The 25-year-old showed her adaptability, often playing out of position at left-back, and turned in a show-stopping performance to down Manchester United in the FA Cup final, bagging a brace and providing an assist for Catarina Macario in a 3-0 win.
Baltimore scored twice to secure France’s place in the Nations League Finals and also netted what proved to be the winner in a 2-1 opening victory over England at Euro 2025. Despite her own successful kick, Les Bleues lost an epic quarterfinal penalty shoot-out to Germany, harming Baltimore’s Ballon d’Or hopes.
MORE: Why the Ballon d’Or matters so much to players
6) Ewa Pajor (Barcelona and Poland)
Pajor demands attention through sheer weight of numbers. The Poland international took her prolific form from Wolfsburg to Barcelona, netting a remarkable 52 goals on the way to Liga F, Copa de La Reina and Spanish Super Cup success.
A major tournament debut followed with her nation, and Pajor was typically on target as Poland secured a maiden Euros win, 3-2 over Denmark, in their final group game.
5) Alessia Russo (Arsenal and England)
After a slow start to the season, Russo found her feet and stepped up when it mattered for club and country. The WSL top scorer was vital to Arsenal’s first Champions League success since 2007. A brace in the rousing quarterfinal comeback over Real Madrid was part of a seven-goal haul overall.
A selfless leader of the attack, Russo only scored twice at Euro 2025, but without her fine headed equaliser against Spain in the final, England would not be celebrating their first-ever major tournament win on foreign soil.
4) Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal and Spain)
It could easily have been Caldentey celebrating in Basel as opposed to her Arsenal teammates wearing white after she opened the scoring in the Euro 2025 final.
Her switch from Barcelona to Arsenal lent a cinematic quality to her lifting the Champions League for a fourth consecutive year, while 16 goals and seven assists helped the Gunners to second place in the WSL. Caldentey was crowned WSL Player of the Year.
3) Alexia Putellas (Barcelona and Spain)
A knee injury nightmare has hindered Putellas terribly since her back-to-back Ballon d’Or triumphs, but the attacking midfielder got back to somewhere approaching her majestic best last season.
She weighed in with 27 goals and 21 assists in Barcelona’s treble season and started Euro 2025 in blistering form as Spain romped through the group stage. Her knockout performances dipped slightly, although it was a surprise to see Putellas hauled off with the final on the line.
2) Chloe Kelly (Arsenal and England)
It was impossible to envisage Kelly being in this conversation as her Manchester City career circled the drain in January. But the England forward got the move she needed to save her season and won the Champions League with Arsenal, bringing her career back to where it all began.
Perhaps it’s a stretch to put a player who featured as an impact substitute so high up this list, but Kelly’s contributions from the bench as England launched comeback after comeback to claim Euros glory are impossible to ignore. Her left-wing crosses caused the recovery from 2-0 down against Sweden, she netted the winner in extra-time to sink Italy, and then there was that utterly emphatic penalty in the shootout with Spain to seal the deal. Bravura stuff.
1) Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona and Spain)
You could lazily dismiss this season as a drop-off from Bonmati. No Champions League and that jaw-dropping penalty failure in the Euros final shootout. Nevertheless, it’s important to remember the masterful midfielder was deservedly named Player of the Tournament after being hospitalised with viral meningitis beforehand.
The 27-year-old remains the best player in the world, the standout for the most dominant club team and the standout international side. Falling just short of perfection this time around should not take her off the top step of the podium.
