In a year of unprecedented success, Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí has won the Ballon d’Or Féminin.

The 25-year-old’s spectacular year included helping Barça win Liga F last season, leading her club team to Champions League glory, and then capping off the summer by lifting Spain to World Cup triumph for the first time ever. Not only was she named Player of the Tournament in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand but she was recently crowned UEFA Women’s Player of the Year.

Barça players have won the coveted Ballon d’Or Féminin for the last three years running, with Bonmatí’s win following and back-to-back wins by teammate Alexia Putellas. In 2022, Bonmatí finished fifth in the Ballon d’Or Féminin rankings. Putellas missed much of last season with an ACL injury, recovering in time to participate in Spain’s World Cup victory.

“We are a country that lives football, intensely. We have a unique talent in Spain” Bonmati said.

With Putellas sidelined by injury, Bonmatí took the spotlight at Barcelona, racking up nine goals and 10 assists in her new attacking role on the team. She scored three goals and assisted two more at the World Cup, as Spain narrowly defeated England 1-0 to hoist the trophy for the first time.

All in all, since her first cap for Spain in 2017, she’s scored 21 goals in 57 caps for her national team.

Read the ESPN article here.

Photo by Franck Fife /AFP