Alexia Putellas has won the Ballon d’Or Feminin for a joint-record third time.
The London City Lionesses midfielder joins Spain teammate Aitana Bonmati as the only other player to win the top individual accolade in world football three times, and is the first-ever winner from a Women’s Super League (WSL) club.
Putellas won the award at Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony at the London Palladium.
The 32-year-old was recognised for her performances during the 2025-26 season, her final campaign at Barcelona, where she spent 14 years, before moving to London City this summer.
Putellas played a leading role as Barcelona won their seventh consecutive Liga F title, and reclaimed the Champions League — their fourth European success in the past six years.
She was named the Champions League player of the tournament after recording eight goals and seven assists in the competition, including a brace in the 4-2 semi-final second-leg win against Bayern Munich.
Putellas also scored nine goals and assisted seven in the league, contributing to a side which netted 130 times in just 30 games, winning Liga F by a 15-point margin.
Her move to the WSL came as part of a big summer of investment led by owner and American billionaire Michele Kang. She joined Barcelona teammate Mapi Leon, former Lyonnes forward Kadidiatou Diani, France midfielder Grace Geyoro and former England goalkeeper Mary Earps as one of a number of high-profile signings to the club, which was promoted from WSL2 just last year.
Putellas has already scored three times in the WSL this season, while she also scored and assisted in Spain’s 2-2 draw with the United States women’s national team in October.
The Spain international previously won the Ballon d’Or in 2021 and 2022, but an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in July 2022 forced her to miss that year’s European Championship, and the majority of the subsequent club season.
Bonmati, her compatriot, won the last three iterations of the Ballon d’Or, but her hopes of retaining the award were ended when she sustained a transverse fracture of her left fibula in November 2025. Bonmati recovered to make seven appearances before the end of last season, but missed the start of the new campaign, and only returned in September, making just a single start so far this campaign.
The award for the women’s best young player went to Barcelona and Spain forward Vicky Lopez for the second successive year, while Barca’s Pere Romeu won women’s coach of the year.
‘Global star Putellas pips underrated Guijarro’
Analysis by women’s sports writer Charlotte Harpur
A lack of major tournaments this year made it more difficult to decipher the best women’s football player.
Despite top coaches, players and executives, past and present, ranking Patri Guijarro and Bunny Shaw above Putellas, there is no debate that, rightly or wrongly, Putellas’ third Ballon d’Or further cements her position at the top of the women’s game. She led Barcelona to another quadruple and topped the team’s charts for attacking sequence involvements in the Champions League.
Having won the award twice at the age of 27 and 28, when she was at the peak of her career before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2022, this accolade suggests she is not past her best just yet.
As is often the case with the women’s Ballon d’Or, profile tends to trump on-pitch performance. Putellas is a global star with a global fanbase but there were strong calls for her compatriot Patri Guijarro to be the victor.
The Barcelona defensive midfielder does not get enough credit. Her positioning, game intelligence, tactical nous and understanding of when and how to control match tempo is severely underrated. She is a complete player, makes Barcelona tick, was crucial to their Champions League triumph and has allowed previous Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmati and Putellas herself to flourish over the years.
As one Frauen Bundesliga executive, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, told The Athletic: “Her importance goes beyond what pure goal statistics can show.”
Bunny Shaw’s standout season was compromised by the fact that Manchester City did not compete in Europe but that should take nothing away from her performance last year. The combination of her hold-up play, technique, aerial dominance, timing, positioning and muscle makes her a goalscoring juggernaut. City would not have won the league without her.
The Ballon d’Or voters, however, lean towards a player with a worldwide reputation at a renowned club who has registered tangible attacking numbers. That is why it is hard to overthrow La Reina who continues World champions Spain’s five-year dominance in this competition.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Spain, London City Lionesses LFC, Women's Soccer, Women's Super League
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