Ballon d'Or Féminin

Annual association football award

Award
Ballon d'Or Féminin
Women's Ballon d'Or
2023 Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí
Date3 December 2018; 5 years ago (2018-12-03)
LocationParis
CountryFrance
Presented byFrance Football
First awarded2018
Current holderSpain Aitana Bonmatí
(1st award)
Most awardsSpain Alexia Putellas
(2 awards)
Most nominationsAustralia Sam Kerr
(5 nominations)
Websitefrancefootball.fr
RelatedBallon 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. It 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 are the only players to have been nominated for the award every year since its inception (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023). Sam Kerr is the only player to place in the top 20 nominations every year, and has consistently been in the top 7. In 2022, Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas became the first and only player to win the award twice and in consecutive years.[3][4][5]

Winners

Alexia Putellas, is the only player to have ever won the Ballon d'Or Féminin twice and in consecutive years.
Year Rank Player Club(s) Points
2018 1st Norway Ada Hegerberg France Lyon 136
2nd Denmark Pernille Harder Germany VfL Wolfsburg 130
3rd Germany Dzsenifer Marozsán France Lyon 86
2019 1st United States Megan Rapinoe United States Reign FC[a] 230
2nd England Lucy Bronze France Lyon 94
3rd United States Alex Morgan United States Orlando Pride 68
2020 Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic[6]
2021 1st Spain Alexia Putellas Spain Barcelona 186
2nd Spain Jenni Hermoso Spain Barcelona 84
3rd Australia Sam Kerr England Chelsea 46
2022 1st Spain Alexia Putellas Spain Barcelona 178
2nd England Beth Mead England Arsenal 152
3rd Australia Sam Kerr England Chelsea 74
2023 1st Spain Aitana Bonmatí Spain Barcelona 266
2nd Australia Sam Kerr England Chelsea 87
3rd Spain Salma Paralluelo Spain Barcelona 49
Ada Hegerberg, the first winner of the award.

Wins by player

Player Winner Second place Third place
Spain Alexia Putellas 2 (2021, 2022) – –
Norway Ada Hegerberg 1 (2018) – –
United States Megan Rapinoe 1 (2019) – –
Spain Aitana Bonmatí 1 (2023) – -
Australia Sam Kerr – 1 (2023) 2 (2021, 2022)
Denmark Pernille Harder – 1 (2018) –
England Lucy Bronze – 1 (2019) –
Spain Jenni Hermoso – 1 (2021) –
England Beth Mead – 1 (2022) –
Germany Dzsenifer Marozsán – – 1 (2018)
United States Alex Morgan – – 1 (2019)
Spain Salma Paralluelo – – 1 (2023)

Wins by country

Country Players Wins
 Spain 2 3
 Norway 1 1
 United States 1 1

Wins by club

Club Players Wins
Spain Barcelona 2 3
France Lyon 1 1
United States Reign FC 1 1

Controversy

The ceremony for the Ballon d'Or is held every year during women's international break, meaning women nominated for the Ballon d'Or are often unable to attend.[7] 2023 nominee Georgia Stanway expressed frustration she could not be present at this "potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunity",[8] 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 in 2023. 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.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12]

See also

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. ^ "Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas wins the 2022 Women's Ballon d'Or". Goal.com. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Alexia Putellas Becomes First Spanish-Born Player To Win Ballon D'Or Twice". Forbes. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ "THE BALLON D'OR® WILL NOT BE AWARDED IN 2020". L'Equipe. 20 July 2020. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "Georgia Stanway disappointed to miss 'once-in-a-lifetime' Ballon d'Or ceremony". North Wales Chronicle. 30 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Barça, best women's team of 2023". www.fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ Lacey-Hatton, Jack (31 October 2023). "Arsenal star slams Ballon d'Or organisers amid Novak Djokovic criticism". The Mirror. Retrieved 2 November 2023.