Women's 2025 Ballon d'Or Power Rankings - Does Aitana Bonmati or Alessia Russo claim top spot ahead of awards ceremony?

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Welcome back to the final edition of the 2025 Women's Ballon d'Or Power Rankings, as we prepare for the ceremony to take place on Monday, September 22. We have seen plenty of twists and turns over the past few months regarding the favourite for the crown, but now we are finally at the finish line. Read on to find out who we think will take home the award...

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The 2025 Ballon d'Or ceremony is very nearly here with the awards gala taking place on Monday, September 22.

The players have done all they can do. The international tournaments have been won and lost. The votes are in.

The voting period reflected performances across the last season of football (2024/25) rather than the calendar year. That means that any performances from this season will not count in any way.

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So what does that mean in terms of the potential winner? Let us find out. Here is the last edition of TNT Sports' 2025 Women's Ballon d'Or Power Rankings.

10 - Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride and Zambia)

As we have talked about previously, the Ballon d'Or committee has shown a tendency to overlook players from the NWSL, despite the relative strength of the competition as one of the very best leagues in the world.

And that will likely count against Barbra Banda, who drops to No. 10 in our final ranking through no real fault of her own.

Banda helped Orlando to win the 2024 NWSL title with four goals in the play-offs and she remains a vital player for Zambia, but chances are she will not have had enough attention on her games for voters.

Plus, the annual structure of the NWSL is not helpful for their players in terms of this award.

Barbra Banda #22 of the Orlando Pride celebrates after being awarded the NWSL 2024 Championship Game MVP trophy against the Washington Spirit

Image credit: Getty Images

9 - Lucy Bronze (Chelsea and England)

Lucy Bronze was a titan for England during their successful UEFA European Championship campaign, revealing after the final she had played the entire tournament with a broken fibula.

Bronze's Chelsea team did not win the UEFA Women's Champions League, but they did complete an unbeaten domestic treble, an incredible achievement.

She may well fall down in the eyes of voters simply because she is a full-back - there is nothing more to it.

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8 - Leah Williamson (Arsenal and England)

Similar to Bronze, Arsenal captain Leah Williamson may struggle for votes because she is a central defender, but she captained her team to the Champions League title and her country to the European Championship, and that gives her the edge over Bronze.

Williamson is considered an elite player, and her return to the pitch has been a joyous one for fans, but she may never end up as a Ballon d'Or winner because of the position she plays.

Maybe she could have a Fabio Cannavaro-esque run, but that feels as if it would have to come in a World Cup year, similar to the legendary Italian - the Euros may not cut it.

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7 - Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal and Spain)

At the end of the club season, Mariona Caldentey was high in our rankings after an excellent debut campaign in north London and it felt as if with a strong Euros, she could be poised to take a stranglehold on the Ballon d'Or.

Unfortunately, it was a disappointing tournament for Caldentey in that it culminated in Spain losing the final, which sees her drop out of the podium spots and all the way down to seventh.

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6 - Chloe Kelly (Arsenal and England)

Imagine trying to tell someone in January that Chloe Kelly would be on this list. Kelly was frozen out at Manchester City and her place in England's Euro squad was in jeopardy before a loan move to Arsenal, that turned permanent, revitalised her career.

Kelly scored twice and assisted five more with Arsenal in the second-half of the season but it was with the national team where Kelly's star shone brightest, as it did three years ago. Kelly's iconic penalty run-up will live long in the memory and if we are talking about moments when it comes to the Ballon d'Or, few players have more than her.

Will it be enough? We suspect probably not, but it will be interesting to see.

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5 - Marta (Orlando Pride and Brazil)

The second NWSL player on this list. Marta is a true icon of women's football, considered one of the greatest to ever do it and 2024/25 was a glorious period for her. Not only did she help the Orlando Pride win the NWSL, she then played a starring role, at the age of 39, as she helped Brazil win the Copa America for the first time in seven years.

When Luka Modric won the Ballon d'Or in 2018, many speculated that it was more akin to a longevity award, rather than because Modric was the best player in the world that year - could something similar happen with Marta? Due to the brief history of the Ballon d'Or Feminin, there has not been any precendent here.

Ultimately, Marta is likely to fall short, for similar reasons as Banda.

Marta Vieira of Brazil poses with the trophy after the CONMEBOL Copa America Femenina 2025 final match between Colombia and Brazil at Rodrigo Paz Delgado Stadium on August 2, 2025

Image credit: Getty Images

4 - Hannah Hampton (Chelsea and England)

We have already talked about players from the NWSL having it hard, and defenders also struggling when it comes to winning the Ballon d'Or. Well, hold that thought, because goalkeepers would like a word. Yet, Hannah Hampton is shooting her shot and she should come close.

As with Bronze, Hampton was part of an unbeaten domestic treble, and then, as with Kelly, she was a player who created moment after moment during the summer. Few people could reasonably argue that England were the clear-cut best side at the European Championship. That they got to the final and then won the tournament is in no small part down to the heroics that Hampton regularly pulled off. And there were even doubts among fans as to whether Hampton should even be the No. 1 when Mary Earps retired just before the tournament.

If a goalkeeper, male or female, is ever going to end the drought post-Lev Yashin then it could be Hampton. If Chelsea had won the Champions League, maybe she would be odds on, but she has to at least be in the discussion.

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3 - Alexia Putellas (Barcelona and Spain)

In terms of the 2024/25 club football season, there is a pretty good argument to be made that Alexia Putellas was the best player in the world. After such a devastating injury, it was a pleasure to watch Putellas at full flow again. There are few players in the history of the game quite like the Catalan midfielder - 19 goals and 15 assists speak for themselves.

But in the biggest moments, it felt as if Putellas disappeared into the background, both in the Champions League final against Arsenal and then later in the summer against England in the Euros final. Putellas deserves to be on the podium, there is no doubt about it, but we are not sure she should be higher than this.

Alexia Putellas of Spain warms up

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2 - Alessia Russo (Arsenal and England)

Alessia Russo's case for the Ballon d'Or this year is an interesting case study in how voters are going to act moving forward. Russo certainly did not have a bad season, she was joint-top scorer in the WSL, but some might argue that she did not have an excellent season nor a particularly excellent Euros in terms of performances.

But she did score in the Euros final and win both the Champions League and the European Championships, which few players can claim. Will voters value her accolades over the performance? It is going to be fascinating to find out.

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1 - Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona and Spain)

Then we have Aitana Bonmati. By her own standards, this was not her best season in terms of trophies, and by rights she probably should not win as she is without the two pieces of major silverware that Russo secured.

But Bonmati posseses a level of skill that is unmatched in the women's game. She is still considered by some as the very best footballer in the world without equal, and that could well be enough given that she was present in both finals and she was arguably not the reason her team lost both times.

We have given the slight edge to the two-time winner Bonmati, but how this plays out on Monday evening is surely going to be intriguing.

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