Alexia Putellas Wins Third Women's Ballon d'Or, Ending Bonmatí's Run

Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas won the women's Ballon d'Or on Monday, her third time taking the award and the one that ended the three-year reign of her national team teammate Aitana Bonmatí, according to The Associated Press.

The win ties Putellas with Bonmatí for the most women's Ballon d'Or awards, Bleacher Report reported. Putellas is 32.

How Putellas took the award back

Putellas previously won the prize in back-to-back years, 2021 and 2022. A torn ACL then interrupted her run, and Bonmatí rose to stardom, according to the AP. Bonmatí completed a three-peat in 2025.

Bonmatí was not on this year's shortlist. The AP reported that she broke her leg in December.

Putellas won the honor after moving on from Barcelona. She joined London City Lionesses in the offseason, the AP reported, and the award recognizes her work with her former club last season.

The season behind the award

The AP said Putellas led Barcelona to multiple trophies last season, including the Women's Champions League. Bleacher Report described the haul as a quadruple. That total included the club's seventh straight Liga F title and its third Champions League title in the past four seasons.

Bleacher Report also gave her statistics. In Liga F play, Putellas had nine goals and seven assists. In the Champions League, she added eight goals and six assists.

She also helped Spain win the Women's Nations League last December, according to the AP. Bleacher Report noted that she remains a pivotal figure for the Spanish national team, which is the top-ranked side in FIFA's world rankings.

The rivals who made a case

Bleacher Report said the result was not much of a surprise, but it pointed to two other candidates with strong cases.

• Khadija Shaw of Manchester City scored 21 league goals as her club won the double, taking both the Premier League and the FA Cup.
• Patri Guijarro, a Barcelona midfielder, won nearly every title available last season, as Putellas did.

Why it matters for the women's game

For fans, the result settles one of the sport's most closely watched individual honors and changes who holds the title of the game's top player. It also puts two Spanish players level in the record books. Putellas and Bonmatí now share the mark for the most women's Ballon d'Or awards, which gives Spanish soccer both of the award's most decorated winners.

The outcome also shows how much last season's club success counted. Putellas's case rested on Barcelona's Liga F and Champions League results, as well as her contribution to Spain's Women's Nations League title. The two other contenders Bleacher Report named were likewise judged on league and cup achievements: Shaw's domestic double with Manchester City and Guijarro's near-sweep with Barcelona.

Putellas's career also shows how quickly the award's leading figures can change. She won in 2021 and 2022, then an injury paved the way for Bonmatí's three wins, and now she is back on top. Bonmatí's absence from this year's shortlist after her broken leg left the field open.

Around Prague, based on reporting by FOX Sports, Bleacher Report