At the London Palladium on Monday night, Alexia Putellas collected a third Ballon d’Or Feminin and drew level with Aitana Bonmatí as the award’s most successful winner. In her acceptance speech, Putellas said: ‘This prize is for Barcelona.’
The Spain midfielder’s victory came after a season in which she captained Barcelona to Champions League glory within a quadruple, scoring 21 goals and providing 13 assists in all competitions. She also recorded 14 goal contributions, eight goals and six assists, in 11 Women’s Champions League appearances.
Putellas, 32, was born and grew up in Mollet del Valles, about 12 miles north-east of Barcelona. She spent 14 years at Barcelona and won 38 trophies before joining London City Lionesses, becoming the first Ballon d’Or winner to play in the Women’s Super League. The league had never previously had a Ballon d’Or winner before her arrival.
Her path back to the prize also includes an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in 2022. Putellas was part of the Spain squad that won the Nations League finals last December.
The voting period for this year’s award ran from 3 August 2025 to 19 July 2026. Ewa Pajor finished second, while Khadija Shaw was third. Melchie Dumornay, the 23-year-old footballer from Haiti, finished fourth.
Temwa Chawinga became the first African player to finish in the women’s top 10. Her placing offered one marker of a wider field, even as the result again concentrated the prize among a familiar group of players and clubs.
France Football introduced the women’s Ballon d’Or in 2018. Putellas won in 2021 and 2022, before her Spain international teammate Bonmatí won each award from 2023 to 2025. Putellas’s latest victory means the pair have taken the honour in each of the past six years.
Spanish players have now won the past six Ballons d’Or Feminin, and Barcelona has produced the winner for six consecutive years. Putellas’s record-equalling return therefore leaves the award with a clear sporting story, while the run also keeps alive the question of how widely its voting and shortlist recognise women’s football talent beyond Spain and Barcelona.
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