TOPSHOT – Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder and Ballon d’Or 2024 winner Aitana Bonmati reacts after receiving the Woman Ballon d’Or award during the 2025 Ballon d’Or France Football award ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on September 22, 2025. (Photo by Franck FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
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FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmatí has become the first woman to win three Ballon D’Or trophies after being awarded the prestigious accolade for the third year in succession.
Awarded by France Football magazine, the Ballon D’Or is awarded to the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. First created for the men’s game in 1956, an award for women was established in 2018 and there remains only four winners in history – Ada Hegerberg, Megan Rapinoe, Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí.
Aitana was voted as the winner of the most coveted individual award in soccer ahead of her Spanish team-mate Arsenal’s Mariona Caldentey and England’s Alessia Russo. Both Caldentey and Russo were in the team which defeated Barcelona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final and Russo was an integral part of the Lionesses’ team which defeated both Spanish players in the UEFA Women’s Euro this summer.
Upon receiving the award again, the midfielder explained what it meant to her. “It’s a source of pride, it was very competitive. I can only thank everyone. Many people have allowed me to take this path. I now have high expectations for the World Cup in Brazil. This third Ballon d’Or contributes to the influence of Barça, and of Catalonia too.”
It is incredibly the fifth year in a row in which a Spanish international playing for FC Barcelona has won the women’s Ballon D’Or. Before the first of Aitana’s titles, Alexia Putellas was a two-time winner of the prize in 2021 and 2022. She herself finished fourth in the rankings this year.
Fellow Spanish and FC Barcelona team-mates, Patri Guijarro and Cláudia Pina were voted in sixth and eleventh position respectively. Aitana conessed that “it could have easily been any of my team-mates. If I could share it, I would because it’s been a great year.”
“Football isn’t just about winning or losing, as we see today. I lost two titles with my teams (UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 with Spain, the Champions League with my club), but I learned a lot. I’m also happy for Mariona Caldentey, who is a great player. We miss her in Barcelona, by the way!”
TOPSHOT – Former Spanish football player Andres Iniesta congratulates Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder and Ballon d’Or 2024 winner Aitana Bonmati after she received the Woman Ballon d’Or award during the 2025 Ballon d’Or France Football award ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on September 22, 2025. (Photo by Franck FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
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Aitana received the award from former FC Barcelona legend Andrés Iniesta, a player she idolised, along with Xavi Hernández, as a young girl and has often been compared to. She admitted “my football today is thanks to them, for everything they taught me. I never imagined when I was a little girl that I could achieve something like this.”
The 27-year-old is the first woman to win three successive Ballon D’Or titles. In fact in the 69-year history of the award, only two other players have ever achieved this distinction. France’s Michel Platini won three successive Ballon D’Ors in 1983, 1984 and 1985 at a time when it was only open to European players. The Argentinian Lionel Messi, the recipient of the most Ballon D’Or titles in history won the first four of his record eight in four successive years – 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Elsewhere, Aitana’s club and international colleague Vicky López won the first-ever women’s Kopa Trophy awarded to the best female footballer in the world under 21 years of age. She finished ahead of four other candidates – Michelle Agyemang, Linda Caicedo, Wieke Kaptein and Claudia Martínez Ovando.
Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder Vicky Lopez speaks after receiving the Kopa Trophy for the best under-21 player during the 2025 Ballon d’Or France Football award ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on September 22, 2025. (Photo by Franck FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
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She said “I dedicate this award to my mother, who from heaven is watching over me and protecting me so that I can become a better person and a better player every year. I want to thank the RFEF and all its staff. From the U-17 national team to the senior team.”
