The nominees for the 2023 Women’s Ballon d’Or are locked in and we can expect a new winner with two-time defending holder Alexia Putellas out of the running.
The award is still relatively new and this year will see just the fifth lot of voting take place. Ada Hegerberg was the first woman in history to win the award in 2018, followed by Megan Rapinoe. The 2020 awards were not held due to the coronavirus pandemic and since then, only Putellas has been crowned.
After a blockbuster Women’s World Cup — which saw Spain lift the trophy for the first time in their history — 30 names have made it onto the Ballon d’Or shortlist. Aitana Bonmatí has been tipped as favourite to take the title this year, following a dominant season for Spanish football. She joins plenty of her World Cup-winning compatriots, and you’ll find some familiar names from runners-up England in there too.
Stars from Colombia, France, Germany, Japan and more are also in the running, including Golden Boot winner Hinata Miyazawa, who has since signed for Manchester United.
This year’s winner will be crowned on October 30. So let’s take a look at every player on the list of nominees for the 2023 Women’s Ballon d’Or award.
2023 Women’s Ballon d’Or nominees
| Player Nominated | Club/Country |
|---|---|
| Aitana Bonmatí | Barcelona/Spain |
| Millie Bright | Chelsea/England |
| Linda Caicedo | Real Madrid/Colombia |
| Olga Carmona | Real Madrid/Spain |
| Rachel Daly | Aston Villa/England |
| Debinha | Kansas City Current/Brazil |
| Kadidiatou Diani | Lyon/France |
| Mary Earps | Manchester United/England |
| Patri Guijarro | Barcelona/Spain |
| Yui Hasegawa | Manchester City/Japan |
| Amanda Ilestedt | Arsenal/Sweden |
| Sam Kerr | Chelsea/Australia |
| Mapi Léon | Barcelona/Spain |
| Katie McCabe | Arsenal/Ireland |
| Hinata Miyazawa | Manchester United/Japan |
| Lena Oberdorf | VfL Wolfsburg/Germany |
| Asisat Oshoala | Barcelona/Nigeria |
| Ewa Pajor | VfL Wolfsburg/Poland |
| Salma Paralluelo | Barcelona/Spain |
| Alexandra Popp | VfL Wolfsburg/Germany |
| Hayley Raso | Real Madrid/Australia |
| Alba Redondo | Levante/Spain |
| Guro Reiten | Chelsea/Norway |
| Wendie Renard | Lyon/France |
| Fridolina Rolfö | Barcelona/Sweden |
| Jill Roord | Manchester City/Netherlands |
| Khadija Shaw | Manchester City/Jamaica |
| Sophia Smith | Portland Thorns/USA |
| Georgia Stanway | Bayern Munich/England |
| Daphne van Domselaar | Aston Villa/Netherlands |
