It is the most celebrated individual prize in women’s football.The Ballon d’Or Feminin was introduced in 2018 and this will be the eighth time it has been awarded (there was a gap in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic).bThe award has gone to Spanish players in each of the past five years (Aitana Bonmati in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and Alexia Putellas in 2021 and 2022).You have to go back to 2019 for a non-Spanish winner, when the United States’ Megan Rapinoe was recognised as the world’s best. The inaugural award went to Norway’s Ada Hegerberg.Will there be a Spanish winner again this year? Six Spaniards make the 30-strong shortlist (which you can see in full at the bottom of this article), but Bonmati misses out after a broken leg ruled her out for a huge part of last season.Rose Lavelle is the only United States player to make the cut, while there are two English representatives, Alex Greenwood and Alessia Russo.The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on October 26.Here, our writers pick their top three contenders, including the player they think should win.Amelie Claydon1. Alexia Putellas (London City Lionesses, Spain) 2. Ewa Pajor (Barcelona, Poland) 3. Melchie Dumornay (OL Lyonnes, Haiti)At 32, Putellas is showing little sign of slowing down. Fresh from a move to London City Lionesses, where she has already been handed the captaincy, the midfielder has a strong case for a third Ballon d’Or after scoring 20 goals in 43 Barcelona appearances last season. She scored seven goals and got seven assists in the Champions League as Barca lifted a fourth European crown. Victorious in 2021 and 2022, another would draw her level with Bonmatí.Did you know women’s soccer’s biggest star plays in Bromley?Charlotte HarpurEwa Pajor, 29, finally got her hands on the trophy that had eluded her for years as the Barcelona and Poland striker lost five Champions League finals before scoring twice in May’s 4-0 win over Lyon, finishing as the competition’s top scorer with 11 goals. Last year’s eighth-placed Ballon d’Or finisher has never won the award.Melchie Dumornay’s trajectory keeps pointing upwards. The 23-year-old OL Lyonnes and Haiti midfielder was France’s player of the season and made UEFA’s Champions League team of the season after helping Lyon reach the final.Theo Lloyd-Hughes1. Khadija Shaw (Manchester City, Jamaica) 2. Temwa Chawinga (KC Current, Malawi) 3. Melchie Dumornay (OL Lyonnes, Haiti)No individual player had a greater impact this year than Khadija Shaw. The 29-year-old Jamaican scored 21 league goals in 22 matches to help Manchester City lift their first Women’s Super League (WSL) title in 10 years. She also turned up in big moments with a brace in the dramatic FA Cup semi-final comeback win over Chelsea and then a goal and assist in City’s victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at Wembley. No one is as clutch as Shaw.Your guide to the WSL this seasonMegan Feringa and Rachael TindeNormally, players in the NWSL are at a disadvantage in the Ballon d’Or due to how the season falls in the calendar. However, with the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) taking place this past summer, there is a bit of extra spotlight for Temwa Chawinga. The KC Current forward could not stop making history last season, winning a record-breaking NWSL Shield, another NWSL MVP title and she took debutants Malawi to a runners-up finish at WAFCON and qualification for a first World Cup.Temwa Chawinga has had a hugely successful time with KC Current over the past year (Jason Mowry/Getty Images)In terms of sheer game-changing ability, Dumornay is up there as one of the most electric players in the world at the moment. Yes, Lyon and Dumornay’s season ended in an ignominious 4-0 Champions League defeat by Barcelona in Oslo, but the journey there was filled with the Haitian blowing through opponents. The speed at which she sees the game, exploding into life after turnovers, is special to watch. Her hat-trick in the French league final, combined with statement showings against an Arsenal team that couldn’t handle her in the Champions League, are front of mind.