Another day, another accolade to add to Sam Kerr‘s ever-growing and impressive CV. Just hours ago the prestigious Ballon d’Or Awards took place at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris and two of your fave Aussies did us incredibly proud.
Every year the Ballon d’Or committee selects 30 nominees in both men’s and women’s categories in order to rank the best players from across the world over the past 12 months. The final top ranking victor walks away with the very shiny Golden Boot Award to place in the trophy cabinet/pool room.
Gaudeix del teu moment, @AitanaBonmati 🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/WKGIjhtgmK
— FC Barcelona Femení (@FCBfemeni) October 30, 2023
In the final rankings for the Ballon d’Or Femenin it will come as no surprise that Barcelona FC powerhouse midfielder Aitana Bonmati took home the top spot, just pipping our girl Sam Kerr who walked away with the runner-up position. This is Sam’s sixth nomination in a row and the fourth time she has placed in the top short-list group – can she do no wrong? I’d kiss her football boot if I could.
🚨Sam Kerr finishes 2nd on the Ballon d’or rankings #BallonDor pic.twitter.com/m6D2mLAiUY
— @Chelseawomen_ (@Chelseawomen_) October 30, 2023
Elsewhere the mighty mini Hayley Raso – who has just recently made a gorgeous debut for new team Real Madrid – landed in the top 20 by being awarded a 17th spot ranking. This will be a huge feather in the cap for the Gold Coast-native who has gone from strength to strength over the past couple of years.
With both Sam and Hayley scoring impressive rankings this should be a rather lovely boost of confidence as they go into Wednesday night’s Asian Olympic Qualifier match-up against Chinese Taipei.
Here are the final rankings for the Ballon d’Or Femenin:
- Aitana Bonmati, Spain.
- Sam Kerr, Australia.
- Salma Paralluelo, Spain.
- Fridolina Rolfo, Sweden.
- Mary Earps, England.
- Olga Carmona, Spain.
- Alexandra Popp, Germany.
- Patri Guijarro, Spain.
- Linda Caicedo, Colombia.
- Rachel Daly, England.
- Millie Bright, England.
- Hinata Miyazawa, Japan.
- Lena Oberdorf, Germany.
- Kadidiatou Diani, France.
- Amanda Ilestedt, Sweden.
- Mapi Leon, Spain.
- Hayley Raso, Australia.
- Ewa Pajor, Poland.
- Guro Reiten, Norway.
- Asisat Oshoala, Nigeria.
- Alba Redondo, Spain.
- Katie McCabe, Ireland.
- Georgia Stanway, England.
- Khadija Shaw, Jamaica.
- Sophia Smith, USA.
- Wendie Renard, France.
- Yui Hasegawa, Japan.
- Debinha, Brazil.
- Jill Roord, Netherlands.
- Daphne van Domselaar, Netherlands.
When accepting the Golden Boot, Aitana took the opportunity to offer some sage words to the audience and the world.
“As role models, we have a responsibility on and off the pitch. We should be more than athletes,” she said.
“Keep leading by example and fighting together for a better, peaceful and equal world.”
It is so inspiring to see these incredibly talented female athletes taking their sport to the next level. The FIFA Women’s World Cup was such an incredible representation of how far female sport has come and I look forward to that growing in momentum.
YEH THE FUCKEN GIRLS.
