Ballon d'Or Féminin

Ballon d'Or Féminin
Women's Ballon d'Or
2024 Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí
Date	3 December 2018; 6 years ago (2018-12-03)
Location	Paris
Country	France
Presented by	France Football
First awarded	2018
Current holder	Aitana Bonmatí (2nd award)
Most awards	Alexia Putellas Aitana Bonmatí (2 awards)
Most nominations	Sam Kerr (5 nominations)
Website	francefootball.fr
Related	Ballon d'Or

The Ballon d'Or Féminin (French pronunciation: [balɔ̃ dɔʁ feminɛ̃]), also known as the Women's Ballon d'Or, is an association football award presented by France Football that honours the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.

Overview

The Ballon d'Or was first awarded in 2018, with Ada Hegerberg^[1] of Norway becoming the inaugural recipient of the award.^[2]

Australian striker Sam Kerr and French defender Wendie Renard were the only players to have been nominated for the award every year since its inception until 2023. Sam Kerr was the only player to place in the top 20 nominations every year, and was consistently in the top 7, until her ACL injury in January 2024.^[3]

In 2022, Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas became the first to win the award twice and in consecutive years.^[4][5][6] Aitana Bonmatí matched her teammate's achievement by winning the Ballon d'Or in 2023 and 2024.

Mary Earps won the highest ever rank for a goalkeeper at fifth place in 2023.^[7]

Winners

Alexia Putellas, is the first player to have won the Ballon d'Or Féminin twice and in consecutive years.

Year	Rank	Player	Club(s)	Points
2018	1st	Ada Hegerberg	Lyon	136
	2nd	Pernille Harder	VfL Wolfsburg	130
	3rd	Dzsenifer Marozsán	Lyon	86
2019	1st	Megan Rapinoe	Reign FC[a]	230
	2nd	Lucy Bronze	Lyon	94
	3rd	Alex Morgan	Orlando Pride	68
2020	Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic[8][9]
2021	1st	Alexia Putellas (1)	Barcelona	186
	2nd	Jenni Hermoso	Barcelona	84
	3rd	Sam Kerr	Chelsea	46
2022	1st	Alexia Putellas (2)	Barcelona	178
	2nd	Beth Mead	Arsenal	152
	3rd	Sam Kerr	Chelsea	74
2023	1st	Aitana Bonmatí (1)	Barcelona	266
	2nd	Sam Kerr	Chelsea	87
	3rd	Salma Paralluelo	Barcelona	49
2024	1st	Aitana Bonmatí (2)	Barcelona	675
	2nd	Caroline Graham Hansen	Barcelona	392
	3rd	Salma Paralluelo	Barcelona	246

Ada Hegerberg, the first winner of the award.

Wins by player

Player	Winner	Second place	Third place
Aitana Bonmatí	2 (2023, 2024)	–	-
Alexia Putellas	2 (2021, 2022)	–	–
Ada Hegerberg	1 (2018)	–	–
Megan Rapinoe	1 (2019)	–	–
Sam Kerr	–	1 (2023)	2 (2021, 2022)
Pernille Harder	–	1 (2018)	–
Lucy Bronze	–	1 (2019)	–
Jenni Hermoso	–	1 (2021)	–
Beth Mead	–	1 (2022)	–
Caroline Graham Hansen	–	1 (2024)	–
Salma Paralluelo	–	–	2 (2023, 2024)
Dzsenifer Marozsán	–	–	1 (2018)
Alex Morgan	–	–	1 (2019)

Wins by country

Country	Players	Wins
Spain	2	4
Norway	1	1
United States	1	1

Wins by club

Club	Players	Wins
Barcelona	2	4
Lyon	1	1
Reign FC	1	1

Controversy

The ceremony for the 2023 Ballon d'Or was held during women's international break, meaning women nominated for the Ballon d'Or were unable to attend.^[10] 2023 nominee Georgia Stanway expressed frustration she could not be present at this "potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunity",^[11] having an Olympic qualifier match in another country less than 24 hours from the ceremony. Only seven out of thirty women were able to be at the ceremony. These attendees had games the next day and missed training, but came to accept the award for best club team of 2023, given to Barcelona.^[12] Stanway called for better scheduling with women in mind so more female footballers could attend. England manager Sarina Wiegman expressed disappointment that the players' hard work would not be properly rewarded due to this scheduling conflict with international duty.^[13]

In 2024 the problem remained unfixed, with Wiegman, who was unable to attend the ceremony, saying, "Of course, that's really disappointing, because that's a moment to celebrate women's soccer and to come together as a whole community in the women's soccer game, and the whole soccer world."^[14][15] Nominee Lucy Bronze, unable to attend, expressed that the Ballon d’Or organizers treat women as a "second thought."^[16] Coach of the Year winner Emma Hayes missed receiving her award while preparing the United States for a match. None of the five American Ballon d'Or nominees attended. Eight of thirty nominees were able to be at the ceremony.^[16]

The Ballon d'Or is the only award for women during this event, with no women's equivalent of the Kopa Trophy, Yashin Trophy, and Gerd Müller Trophy that are given to men.^[17] 2022 second place Ballon d'Or nominee Beth Mead said, "[The Ballon d’Or] is such a prestigious award. But then it was a tick box to have women there but they weren't doing it right.^[18]

France Football and UEFA promote men's strikers, goalkeepers, and youth by offering awards and bringing recognition to these men, but fail to do the same for women. The Guardian writer Tom Garry named Salma Paralluelo, Linda Caicedo, Alyssa Thompson, and Mary Earps as players deserving of these trophies.^[19]

See also

• List of sports awards honoring women
• The Best FIFA Women's Player
• The Best FIFA Football Awards

References

Footnotes

1. OL Reign were known as Reign FC during 2019.

Citations

1. Hub, Her Football (6 September 2023). "2023 Women's Ballon d'Or: All nominees revealed as award is set for new winner". Her Football Hub. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
2. Aarons, Ed (4 December 2018). "Ada Hegerberg: first women's Ballon d'Or marred as winner is asked to twerk". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
3. "Embarrassing new blow for Sam Kerr and Matildas as eye-opening six-year first emerges". Yahoo Sports. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
4. "Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas wins the 2022 Women's Ballon d'Or". Goal.com. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
5. "Alexia Putellas Becomes First Spanish-Born Player To Win Ballon D'Or Twice". Forbes. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
6. "Alexia Putellas remporte son deuxième Ballon d'Or féminin" [Alexia Putellas wins her second Ballon d'Or]. L'Équipe (in French). 17 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
7. "Earps makes history at Ballon d'Or awards". www.manutd.com. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
8. "Coronavirus: Ballon d'Or cancelled for first time in award's history". ESPN. 20 July 2020. ISSN 1097-1998. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
9. Ferré, Pascal (20 July 2020). "Il n'y aura pas de Ballon d'Or France Football en 2020" [There will be no France Football Ballon d'Or in 2020]. France Football (in French). ISSN 0015-9557. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
10. Garry, Tom (22 November 2021). "Ballon d'Or scheduling proves the women's game remains an afterthought". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
11. "Georgia Stanway disappointed to miss 'once-in-a-lifetime' Ballon d'Or ceremony". North Wales Chronicle. 30 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
12. "Barça, best women's team of 2023". www.fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
13. Sripad (30 October 2023). ""It's a potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" - Georgia Stanway rues fact that women's footballers can't attend 2023 Ballon d'Or ceremony". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
14. "England stars forced to miss Ballon d'Or again due to match clash". Mundo Deportivo USA. 28 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
15. "Wiegman disappointed by Ballon d'Or scheduling". ESPN.com. 28 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
16. Olsen, Emily. "Ballon d'Or misses mark with timing … again. Plus, a breakout USWNT star?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
17. O'Neill, Caoimhe. "Novak Djokovic and the women's Ballon d'Or award - a mistake but not a surprise". The Athletic. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
18. Lacey-Hatton, Jack (31 October 2023). "Arsenal star slams Ballon d'Or organisers amid Novak Djokovic criticism". The Mirror. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
19. Garry, Tom (12 September 2024). "So much about the Ballon d'Or suggests it doesn't care about women's football". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 October 2024.