The full list of nominees for the 2023 Women’s Ballon D’or has been revealed – featuring WSL superstars such as Rachel Daly, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway.
Players from clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Aston Villa all have nominees on the list – let’s take a look at the full roster.
Who has been nominated for the award?
The full list of nominees for the Women’s Ballon D’or is as follows [via BBC Sport]: Aitana Bonmati (Spain and Barcelona), Millie Bright (England and Chelsea), Linda Caicedo (Colombia and Real Madrid), Olga Carmona (Spain and Real Madrid), Rachel Daly (England and Aston Villa), Debinha (Brazil and North Carolina Courage/Kansas City), Kadidiatou Diani (France and Lyon), Mary Earps (England and Manchester United), Patricia Guijarro (Spain and Barcelona), Yui Hasegawa (Japan and Manchester City), Amanda Ilestedt (Sweden and Paris St-Germain/Arsenal), Sam Kerr (Australia and Chelsea), Mapi Leon (Spain and Barcelona), Katie McCabe (Republic of Ireland and Arsenal), Hinata Miyazawa (Japan and MyNavi Sendai/Manchester United), Lena Oberdorf (Germany and Wolfsburg), Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria and Barcelona), Ewa Pajor (Poland and Wolfsburg), Salma Paralluelo (Spain and Barcelona), Alexandra Popp (Germany and Wolfsburg), Hayley Raso (Australia and Man City/Real Madrid), Alba Redondo (Spain and Levante), Guro Reiten (Norway and Chelsea), Wendie Renard (France and Lyon), Fridolina Rolfo (Sweden and Barcelona), Jill Roord (Netherlands and Wolfsburg/Manchester City), Khadija Shaw (Jamaica and Manchester City), Sophia Smith (United States and Portland Thorns), Georgia Stanway (England and Bayern Munich), Daphne van Domselaar (Netherlands and Twente/Aston Villa).
Who are the most likely candidates to win the award from the WSL?
Chelsea’s Sam Kerr will always be a strong pick to win an award such as this – not only did she spearhead Australia to an inspiring underdog campaign in the World Cup, she also scored 12 WSL goals and notched up five assists.
Rachel Daly could also be in with a strong shout of collecting the award. She was the top goalscorer in the WSL last season, netting 22 goals in as many games.
However, we feel the award will be collected by a player outside of the WSL – Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati. In 2022/23, she was untouchable, scoring 14 goals and racking up ten assists in all club competitions.
She was also a star on the international stage, as she played a pivotal role in Spain’s World Cup winning campaign – scoring three goals and registering two assists along the way.