Highlights
USWNT coach Emma Hayes is sad with the Ballon d’Or exclusion.
Gamers did not get the popularity they deserved.
Ballon d’Or vote consisted of Arsenal and Barcelona gamers.
Emma Hayes expressed disappointment that the Nationwide Ladies’s Soccer League didn’t obtain the popularity it deserved at this yr’s Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Aitana Bonmatí took dwelling the ladies’s award, ending forward of Arsenal’s Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo. The remainder of the highest 10 was additionally dominated by gamers from European golf equipment, together with Barcelona, Chelsea, and Arsenal.
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European dominance prolonged throughout the opposite classes as properly. Arsenal have been named Ladies’s Membership of the Yr, Spain’s Vicky López gained the Ladies’s Kopa Trophy, England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton collected the Ladies’s Yashin Trophy, and Lionesses supervisor Sarina Wiegman obtained the Ladies’s Johan Cruyff Trophy.
Some followers have been shocked to see Caldentey and Russo behind Bonmatí, who claimed her third Ballon d’Or, whereas Marta’s absence from the highest 10 additionally sparked debate amongst supporters.
“I believe the fact is that the Champions League and the European Championships favor or edge ahead gamers which might be taking part in in these competitions as a result of there’s simply extra of them,” Hayes instructed Stats Carry out.
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PARIS, FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 22: Cata Coll Lluch, Patri Guijarro, Alexia Putellas, Vicky Lopez, Caroline Graham Hansen, Aitana Bonmati , Ewa Pajor and Claudia Pina attend the 69th Ballon D’Or Photocall at Theatre Du Chatelet on September 22, 2025 in Paris, France. (Picture by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis through Getty Pictures)
European Leagues are Taking Each Huge Star from the NWSL
Naomi Girma, Crystal Dunn, Kerolin Nicoli, Tarciane, Jenna Nighswonger, and Alyssa Thompson are among the many prime NWSL gamers in latest seasons who’ve made the transfer to European golf equipment.
Thompson not too long ago transferred from Angel Metropolis to Chelsea, the place she reunited with Naomi Girma and may have the prospect to study from among the finest strikers in fashionable ladies’s soccer — Sam Kerr.
Whereas Thompson isn’t anticipated to take Kerr’s spot, coaching alongside the Australian star could possibly be invaluable for her improvement.
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The following American star to make the bounce could possibly be Trinity Rodman. With European leagues and the UEFA Ladies’s Champions League serving as the principle stage for gamers competing for the Ballon d’Or, becoming a member of a prime European membership may be probably the most lifelike path for U.S. skills to get again into competition for the sport’s greatest particular person awards.
This story was initially reported by on Oct 4, 2025, the place it first appeared within the part. Add Athlon Sports activities as a