The margin may have got smaller but the brilliant Spanish midfielder makes it a hat-trick of No 1 finishes
They say the best things come in threes, and Aitana Bonmatí has written herself into the Guardian’s top 100 history as the first player to finish at the top of the tree for a third consecutive year.
Last year the majestic midfielder emulated her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas by winning for a second year running, but the 27-year-old has now gone one better, establishing herself once again at the top of the women’s game.
As the Top 100 approaches a decade since its inception, nobody has quite dominated an era like Bonmatí and, while 2025 did not end in major silverware on the European stage, there were moments of sublime brilliance on the way to a Champions League final as well as the Euro one with Spain.
Bonmatí, as the very best do, has become a figure who can step up when needed most, and has become synonymous with the Blaugrana Barcelona stripes, a one-club woman with over 300 appearances in all competitions for the Catalan giants. Catalonia born and bred, both her parents were teachers of the Catalan language, with Bonmatí’s life and career intertwined with the region since she was a child, and now she has become an icon not just at home, but all around the world.
