Have you ever wondered who gets to be called the best female footballer on the planet? Well, there are many of the best female soccer players, but the Women’s Ballon d’Or winners are the stars who earn that title.
“Ballon d’Or” is French for “Golden Ball,” and the women’s version is called the Ballon d’Or Féminin. As of 2026, four different players have won it,
Are you ready to dive in and get to know the Women’s Ballon d’Or winners?
1) Ada Hegerberg
Let us start with Ada Hegerberg of Norway, who won the very first Ballon d’Or Féminin award in 2018. The Ballon d’Or is one of the most prestigious awards in women’s football. Ada is the woman who opened the list of Women’s Ballon d’Or winners.
Ada was born on 10 July 1995 in Molde, Norway, and grew up in Sunndalsøra. She plays as a striker, which means her main job is to score goals.
She has played for women’s soccer clubs including Kolbotn, Stabæk, and Turbine Potsdam, and then Lyon in France, where she has played since 2014.
With Lyon, she has won six Champions League trophies, the biggest club prize in Europe. She was voted Best Women’s Player in Europe for 2015/16, an award given by UEFA.
Her record of 15 goals in one Champions League season has never been beaten. She also leads the all-time list in that tournament, with 69 goals so far.
As of 28 October 2026, Ada plays for OL Lyonnes, one of the greatest women’s soccer clubs from Lyon, France.
2) Megan Rapinoe
Next up, Megan Rapinoe became the second name on the list of the Women’s Ballon d’Or winners in 2019. Rapinoe was born on 5 July 1985 in Redding, California. She played as a midfielder and winger.
She has played for women’s soccer teams including Chicago Red Stars, Philadelphia Independence, MagicJack, Seattle Sounders Women, Lyon, and Seattle Reign.
Seattle Reign is what we now know as OL Reign.
In 2019, Megan collected more awards than most female football players dream of in a whole career. Besides the Ballon d’Or, she won The Best FIFA Women’s Player award that same year. At the 2019 World Cup, she took the Golden Boot for top scorer and the Golden Ball for best player.
Sports Illustrated also named her Sportsperson of the Year, which is a big honour across all sports. With the United States, she won Olympic gold in 2012 and the World Cup in 2015 and 2019.
In 2022, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the top civilian honour in the United States. She retired in 2023 at age 38.
3) Alexia Putellas
Alexia Putellas is the latest of the Women’s Ballon d’Or winners. She won on 26 October 2026, finishing ahead of Poland’s Ewa Pajor and Jamaica’s Khadija Shaw. Her first two wins came in 2021 and 2022, which made her the first to win back-to-back Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
Alexia was born on 4 February 1994 in Mollet del Vallès, a town in Catalonia, Spain. Her clubs were Espanyol, Levante, and Barcelona, where she played from 2012 to 2026.
In July 2026, she left Barcelona after 14 years and joined London City Lionesses in England. She is among the best female strikers, scoring 232 goals for Barcelona, a club record for the women’s team.
In 2021, she became the first player to win three big awards in one year. Those were the Ballon d’Or, UEFA’s Player of the Year award, and The Best FIFA Women’s Player.
She won The Best FIFA Women’s Player again in 2022, and Catalonia gave her the Sant Jordi Cross. That Cross is a big honour in Catalonia, and she was the first female footballer to get it.
She also won the 2023 World Cup with Spain and four Champions League titles with Barcelona.
She was also named Player of the Season in the 2025/26 Champions League. Putellas now plays for London City Lionesses in England, having joined them in 2026.
4) Aitana Bonmatí
Between Alexia’s two spells at the top, Aitana Bonmatí took over in 2023, 2024, and 2025. That made her the first Women’s Ballon d’Or winner to win three times in a row.
Alexia matched that total in 2026, so both stars share the top spot among the Women’s Ballon d’Or winners, winning it three times.
Aitana was born on 18 January 1998 in Sant Pere de Ribes, a town in Catalonia, Spain. She plays as a midfielder and has been at Barcelona since 2012, starting in the youth academy La Masia.
Bonmatí’s trophy cabinet is full, even for a star of her level. In 2023, she won the World Cup Golden Ball and UEFA’s Player of the Year award. She also won The Best FIFA Women’s Player award in both 2023 and 2024.
In 2024, she became the first footballer to win the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award. She was Player of the Tournament at Euro 2025 and Player of the Season in the 2024/25 Champions League.
Late in 2025, she broke a bone in her left leg and missed more than five months.
Even so, she came back and has now won four Champions League titles with Barcelona. Her contract runs until June 2028.
Aitana is still playing for one of the best women’s soccer clubs in the world, FC Barcelona.
Final Whistle
The first Women’s Ballon d’Or winner was Ada Hegerberg of Norway, who took the award in 2018. Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí have the most wins, with three awards each.
Megan Rapinoe is the only American on the list, with her win in 2019. The award was not given in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, so nobody won that year.
The Ballon d’Or women’s award began in 2018, while the men’s award has existed since 1956. That is why the list of Women’s Ballon d’Or winners is still short, but exciting, right?
Now you know every one of the Women’s Ballon d’Or winners, and the next name could be anyone, even you. I mean, picture a stage with golden lights, a packed hall, and one name being called out: YOURS.
Even when you’re somewhere far away, or just a young girl with a ball at her feet, it’s always good to think, “That could be me one day.”
