By OkayGoal 
Women’s soccer has never been at a higher point. The 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia set records for attendances, and the ongoing Women’s Euro 2025 completion looks set to follow in its footsteps. The aforementioned European Championships are still ongoing in Switzerland, and plenty of gripping narratives are being unraveled.
Reigning champions England headed to the land of the Alps with a very real hope of successfully defending the title they won so impressively on home turf three years ago. However, their campaign got off to the worst possible start when the Lionesses were thoroughly outclassed in a 2-1 defeat to France. Now, neither they nor Les Bleus are the betting favorites to leave Switzerland with the gold.
Spanish Talent Conveyor Belt
That is an honor that goes to reigning world champions Spain. The popular Bovada betting site currently has La Roja listed as a mightily short 3/4 frontrunner to secure the European Championships for the first time. And considering their conveyor belt of Ballon d’Or Féminin winners in their squad, perhaps that should be unsurprising.
Much like its Ballon d’Or male counterpart, the Féminin award has been around since 2018 and is awarded to the best female player on the planet throughout a given calendar year. Over the last four years, Spaniards have had the coveted prize on lockdown, but which players specifically have claimed the award since its creation? Let’s find out.
Aitana Bonmatí
No one has illuminated the stage quite like Aitana Bonmatí in recent years. The Barcelona midfield dynamo hasn’t just orchestrated victories—she imposed her will on the beautiful game. In 2023, she was already the chief architect behind the Blaugrana’s engine room. Her campaign delivered the league title and the Champions League as she dictated play, scored vital goals, and brought record-breaking numbers into the Camp Nou.
Yet, it was the summer of 2023 when Bonmatí’s legend soared. On the grandest platform in Australia and New Zealand, she guided Spain to their first-ever Women’s World Cup title, elegantly collecting the Golden Ball as the tournament’s most outstanding player in the process. When she raised the Ballon d’Or Féminin in the aftermath of that triumph in the Land Down Under, it felt less like a surprise and more like justice.
But Bonmatí wasn’t done redefining greatness. In 2024, she and Barcelona demolished expectations, clinching an extraordinary quadruple: Liga F, Champions League, Copa de la Reina, and Supercopa—all while Bonmatí set a new personal best of 19 goals across all competitions. Now, she is out to add the European Championship to her already overflowing trophy cabinet.
Alexia Putellas
Before her partner in crime, Bonmatí, shot to prominence, Alexia Putellas was the face of Barcelona’s most ferocious era. In 2021, she was the creative force and spiritual leader behind a side that swept Liga F, Copa de la Reina, and the Champions League—thrashing Chelsea 4-0 in a final that sent shockwaves through the women’s game. With 18 goals and 17 assists, her fingerprints were all over the Catalonian side’s treble, blending tactical vision and clinical finishing as no other midfielder could.
Putellas was rewarded with the Ballon d’Or Féminin, a decision the football world greeted with unanimity. She had made winning look not just possible, but a foregone conclusion. But the narrative was about to grow richer in 2022.
Putellas was on pace for a second straight league title and, before injury interrupted her campaign, had chalked up direct involvement in 34 goals. Even though she ended the year in the treatment room, she was still awarded a second consecutive Ballon d’Or Féminin award to cement her status as the Queen of Camp Nou.
Megan Rapinoe
When one thinks of icons that have pushed women’s sport into the mainstream, they think of the likes of Ronda Rousey, Serena Williams, and Megan Rapinoe. A notorious trailblazer who has campaigned vigorously for women to get a fair crack of the whip, the American superstar had her date with destiny in 2019.
With the world watching, she elevated the U.S. Women’s National Team to its record-extending fourth World Cup title in France, seizing the spotlight with six goals, including high-pressure strikes against France in the quarterfinals and a penalty in the final against the Netherlands. In the clutch, Rapinoe’s timing and audacity proved unstoppable. Her haul: the Golden Boot for top scorer, the Golden Ball for best player, and, at season’s end, the Ballon d’Or Féminin.
Who do you think us going to open the scoring for #USA tonight? #FIFAWWC lines ➡️ https://t.co/zBEQNhhvEj pic.twitter.com/ZE40Qf0VAr
— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) July 21, 2023
Rapinoe’s leadership wasn’t confined to numbers. At Reign FC, she galvanized her NWSL squad, while on the world stage, she became a beacon for equality and expression. In the annals of the sport, her Ballon d’Or Féminin is more than an award—it is a symbol of how footballing greatness can fuel global cultural change.
Ada Hegerberg
Every history needs a pioneer, and Ada Hegerberg answered the call spectacularly in 2018. The Norwegian striker was the very first to win the Ballon d’Or Féminin, and she did it in emphatic fashion. Leading Olympique Lyonnais, she hammered in a record 15 goals during that season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League, capping her campaign with a goal in the 4-1 final win over Wolfsburg and securing Lyon’s fifth European crown.
Domestically, Hegerberg’s influence was just as pronounced: Lyon stormed to a 12th consecutive French league title, and she concluded the year with 31 goals in just 29 appearances across all competitions. As such, being crowned the best women’s player on the planet was all but a formality.