Barcelona’s grip on the shortlist is as tight as ever. Eight of the 30 nominees come from the Catalan club’s quadruple-winning side, led in the betting by the two players everyone expects to top the vote.

What has shifted is the hierarchy at the top. Bonmatí, winner of the past three editions, is absent after missing most of the 2025-26 season with a broken leg.

That leaves a field most of whom have never finished higher than runner-up. The ceremony takes place at the London Palladium theatre in London on Monday 26 October, with Thierry Henry and Kate Scott hosting on the gala’s 70th anniversary.

Putellas chasing a third

Alexia Putellas is the frontrunner. The two-time winner captained Barcelona to a league, cup, Supercopa and Champions League sweep before leaving for London City Lionesses in the Women’s Super League in the summer.

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In the league she managed 24 goals and 13 assists, according to goal.com’s power rankings, the kind of all-round line voters tend to reward.

Her closest challenger is a Barcelona teammate from the same campaign. Ewa Pajor finished the Champions League as top scorer with 11 goals in 10 appearances and closed out a 33-goal club season.

Clàudia Pina, the Liga F top scorer with 21 goals in 27 games, is the third Barcelona player in the serious conversation.

Shaw, Harder and the challengers

Khadija Shaw’s case is built almost entirely on the WSL. The Jamaica striker scored 21 league goals as Manchester City won the title and finished the season on 39 goals and nine assists across all competitions, the heaviest raw output in the field.

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Pernille Harder led the line for a Bayern Munich side that won the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal and the DFB-Supercup, ending the year on 34 goals and 14 assists.

Melchie Dumornay drove Lyon to the French double and the League Cup with 22 goals and 12 assists.

Then there are the England names. Alessia Russo and Mariona Caldentey, teammates at Arsenal and both on the shortlist, give the WSL a third and fourth live candidate alongside Shaw.

Monday night at the London Palladium

The move from Paris to the Palladium is the biggest change to the staging in years. UEFA and France Football have booked the West End venue for the main gala, with the Women’s Ballon d’Or one of the headline prizes alongside the men’s award, Yachine Trophy, Kopa Trophy, Johan Cruyff Trophy and Club of the Year.

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Barcelona are also up for Women’s Club of the Year, alongside Bayern Munich, Club América, Manchester City and OL Lyonnais.

The ceremony starts at 20:00 GMT / 21:00 CET on Monday.

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