Alexia Putellas went through a difficult period due to injury, but her charisma remained undiminished. She has long since returned to world-class form – and has indirectly benefited from an injury herself in winning her third Ballon d’Or.
Alexia Putellas has won the 2026 Ballon d’Or – in a sense, on her ‘home turf’. The London City Lionesses forward was presented with the prestigious trophy for the third time – following her wins in 2021 and 2022 – at the gala in the English capital. Behind Alexia, Polish striker Ewa Pajor, who plays for FC Barcelona, finished in second place. Jamaican Khadija Shaw, who scores goals for Manchester City, completed the podium in third place. Klara Bühl of FC Bayern was the only German to make it onto the 30-strong shortlist; she finished in 12th place, narrowly missing out on the top ten.
From the Bundesliga, Bühl’s club-mates Pernille Harder finished in 7th place and Momoko Tanikawa in 23rd. It had been clear from the outset that the three Munich players had no realistic chance of winning the Ballon d’Or, mainly because FCB had been knocked out in the semi-finals of the 2025/26 Champions League – by a certain FC Barcelona (1–1, 2–4).
Alexia was responsible for two of the goals conceded in the second leg. In total, she scored seven goals and provided seven assists in the Champions League last season, and across all competitions she tallied 24 goals and 13 assists. As a central midfielder, mind you. Whilst “La Reina” (the Queen) has certainly made a valuable contribution up front during her career, under Pere Romeu in Barcelona and currently under Lionesses coach Eder Maestre in London, Alexia makes the most of her abilities a line deeper.
Champions League and Ballon d’Or: an interesting parallel
She’s certainly no sprinter, but with her outstanding technique and understanding of the game, she’s always capable of setting up or scoring a goal. Perhaps the biggest star in women’s world football also gets involved defensively. Aitana may well have deservedly won the Ballon d’Or over the past three years, but anyone attending a Spain women’s international will notice, just by glancing at the names on the shirts: The fans’ favourite is Alexia.
As early as 2025, she was once again a serious contender for the award, but couldn’t get past her then-club-mate Aitana. Now that her former close teammates at Barcelona have been sidelined through injury (Aitana with a fractured fibula, Patri with a hairline fracture in her foot), Alexia’s moment has come once again. That is to say, for her, who herself had been abruptly set back by a cruciate ligament tear in 2022.
It was no coincidence that UEFA named her the best player of the 2025/26 Champions League season. And in doing so, she continued an interesting run: in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, the Ballon d’Or winner had also been named Champions League Player of the Season. First Alexia, then Aitana three times, and now Alexia again.
In the summer, “La Reina” left her kingdom of Barcelona having won the quadruple – that is, all four possible titles in a single season – and made the move to the financially powerful and ambitious Lionesses in England. Things are going brilliantly there too at the moment: Alexia’s team have won eight of their last nine competitive matches; only last weekend did the London club have to settle for a 2–2 draw in Liverpool.