Following a season that saw Arsenal return to the elite level by winning the Champions League, 17 years after winning it as the UEFA Women’s Cup, there was hope for a Ballon d’Or winner as England also won the 2025 Euros.
Unfortunately, it did not happen as Aitana Bonmati won the trophy for the third year in a row.
The Spanish playmaker is an exceptional player. If you are lucky to see her in action live from the stadium, her technical ability, dynamism, speed of play and process is rarely matched.
That’s why she is a world class player, she has the ability to change a game alongside her club or country team-mates. But she was only a runner-up in the Champions League and the Euros, so it is a surprise to see her win the Ballon d’Or. Once the votes are published, we will be able to go deeper and analyse how she finished ahead of Caldentey and Russo.
The Arsenal players really did the club proud and their ranking reflects the impressive seasons they had for club and country: 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 25th, 27th and 29th.
The team of the year award represents a big achievement that should not be underestimated. Here is the full list of awards for the women side:
Ballon d’Or: Aitana Bonmati Barcelona/Spain
Cruyff trophy, manager of the year: Sarina Wiegman England
Kopa trophy, young player of the year: Vicky Lopez Barcelona/Spain, Michelle Agyemang was voted fourth in this category.
Yachine trophy, goalkeeper of the year: Hannah Hampton Chelsea/England, Daphne van Domselaar was voted fifth in this category.
Interestingly, there were some complaint on social media that the vote was very much Euro-centric and players like Barbra Banda or Marta who have done so well in the NWSL and their national team should have ranked higher.
This is certainly true and as always it is a question of access to goals, match highlights and data. For example, every confederation now has a Champions League type tournament, so success in those six competitions should see players on equal footing. Jess Carter of Gotham FC has won the Concacaf Champions Cup and the Euros 2025, so should have been in the voters’ thoughts as equally as the Arsenal players who did the double UWCL/Euros.
As a point of reference, having a tournament like the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup next January will be a competition between those six Champions League winners and show a shining light on those players and clubs that should get more recognition worldwide.
Now we need to wait and see until the full Ballon d’Or is published by France Football so that we can analyse why and how Aitana Bonmati ended up the winner for the 2024/25 season.