Ballon d'Or Feminin 2022: The favourites

The Ballon d'Or Feminin has been part of the most prestigious set of individual awards in world football since 2018 when Ada Hegerberg made history as the first ever winner.

The women's game is growing exponentially year on year and Euro 2022 was an expected catalyst for a boost in England particularly, while Lyon and Barcelona flew the flag high in Europe.

There are more top stars and household names than ever before and the 2022 edition of the Ballon d'Or promises to be a fierce battle with so many deserving contenders.

There are 20 names on the full shortlist, but here is a ranked list of the top 10...

10. Aitana Bonmati

Club: Barcelona
Country: Spain
Team honours: Liga F, Copa de la Reina
Individual honours: N/A

Building on a player of the match performance in the 2021 Champions League final, Aitana Bonmati has spent the last year underlining her status as one of the world's best midfielders. She had an incredible season with Barcelona and won an army of new fans for Spain at Euro 2022.

9. Ada Hegerberg

Club: Lyon
Country: Norway
Team honours: Champions League, Division 1 Feminine
Individual honours: N/A

Ada Hegerberg was back in 2021/22 after nearly two years out because of a long-term knee injury. She wasn't quite back to her pre-injury levels, but still had a great record and scored important goals in the latter stages of the Champions League - including the decisive goal in the final.

8. Alex Morgan

Club: San Diego Wave
Country: USA
Team honours: CONCACAF W Championship
Individual honours: NWSL regular season top scorer, CONCACAF W Championship Golden Ball

Alex Morgan has been back to her best in 2022 after a quieter couple of years and is rightly in contention for the Ballon d'Or. She got 15 goals in 17 appearances for San Diego Wave in the NWSL regular season and was joint top scorer as the United States were crowned CONCACAF champions.

7. Alexandra Popp

Club: Wolfsburg
Country: Germany
Team honours: Frauen-Bundesliga, DFB Pokal Frauen
Individual honours: N/A

Alexandra Popp has successfully reminded people of her world class credentials with her performances for Wolfsburg and Germany. Six goals at Euro 2022 ended an international drought and if there was an award for comeback of the year it would easily be hers.

6. Lena Oberdorf

Club: Wolfsburg
Country: Germany
Team honours: Frauen-Bundesliga, DFB Pokal Frauen
Individual honours: Euro 2022 Young Player of the Tournament

Lena Oberdorf has emerged over the last 12 months as arguably the best young midfielder in the world. She was a domestic double winner with Wolfsburg at club level, was named Euro 2022 Young Player of the Tournament and was a finalist in UEFA Women's Player of the Year.

5. Marie Antoinette Katoto

Club: Paris Saint-Germain
Country: France
Team honours: Coupe de France
Individual honours: Division 1 Feminine Best Player, Division 1 Feminine Top Goalscorer

Marie Antoinette Katoto was the best striker in French football in 2021/22, which is some feat considering the competition. She only turned 23 last November but has scored at least 24 goals in each of the last seasons - including a career high 32 in 33 games last term.

4. Wendie Renard

Club: Lyon
Country: France
Team honours: Champions League, Division 1 Feminine
Individual honours: N/A

Wendie Renard's consistency and longevity is nothing short of remarkable. The 32year-old was the defensive rock on which Lyon's return to glory in both France and the Champions League was built on, while she record a career-high goal return of 15 in all competitions.

3. Beth Mead

Club: Arsenal
Country: England
Team honours: Euro 2022
Individual honours: Euro 2022 Golden Boot, Euro 2022 Player of the Tournament

Being left out of Great Britain's Olympic squad in 2021 lit a fire under Beth Mead. She had a top club season with Arsenal, joint leading the WSL in assists, before playing a major role for England at a triumphant Euro 2022, and set a new England record for most international goals in a calendar year.

2. Sam Kerr

Club: Chelsea
Country: Australia
Team honours: WSL, FA Cup
Individual honours: WSL Golden Boot, WSL Player of the Season, FWA Footballer of the Year, PFA Players' Player of the Year, PFA Fans' Player of the Year

Sam Kerr carried her excellent form into the 2021/22 season, enjoying another prolific season with 29 goals in 31 club appearances. As well as a domestic double with Chelsea, she completed a clean sweep of the WSL's three main individual awards and landed the golden boot.

1. Alexia Putellas

Club: Barcelona
Country: Spain
Team honours: Liga F, Copa de la Reina
Individual honours: UEFA Women's Player of the Year, Champions League top scorer

The year could have been so different for Alexia Putellas. She had a stunning campaign that saw her score a career-high 28 goals in all competitions from midfield and was only a Champions League final defeat short of completing another Barcelona treble.

For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!

Home/Ballon d'Or

Ballon d'Or Feminin 2022: The favourites - ranked

By Jamie Spencer | Oct 7, 2022