Can an Arsenal nominee win the Ballon d’Or? Part 1 | OneFootball

Arsenal’s outstanding 2024–25 campaign has been rewarded with a flood of Ballon d’Or nominations, as players and staff compete across every major women’s category.

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

Following a successful 2024–25 season for club and country, multiple Arsenal players and staff have been nominated for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.

Individual awards in a team sport are often a double-edged sword, sometimes fuelling the kind of ego race seen on the men’s side. Real Madrid’s behaviour last year was a case in point. Such honours can encourage individualism at the expense of team performance, but they remain an important measure of recognition.

It is worth recalling how the Ballon d’Or is decided. As France Football explains:

France Football and UEFA have also introduced two new women’s categories to match the men’s: the Kopa Trophy for the best young player, named after French playmaker Raymond Kopa, and the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper, named after the legendary Russian Lev Yashin.

On Monday 22 September at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the following women’s awards will be presented:

Women’s Kopa Trophy 2025 nominees

Michelle Agyemang (England, Brighton/Arsenal)Linda Caicedo (Colombia, Real Madrid)Wieke Kaptein (Netherlands, Chelsea)Vicky López (Spain, Barcelona)Claudia Martínez Ovando (Paraguay, Club Olimpia)

L’Équipe reports that Alyssa Thompson (USA), Cho Il Son (Korea DPR), Signe Gaupset (Norway) and Olivia Smith (Canada) narrowly missed the final cut.

Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

Agyemang has a genuine chance, but faces strong competition. Claudia Martínez Ovando, just 17, was joint top scorer at the Copa América with six goals in five matches. Linda Caicedo is already an established star for Real Madrid and Colombia. Wieke Kaptein, a talented playmaker, won the domestic treble with Chelsea. Vicky López has dominated for Spain’s national side and is now producing the same form for Barcelona.

Women’s Yashin Trophy 2025 nominees

Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany, Gotham FC)Cata Coll (Spain, Barcelona)Hannah Hampton (England, Chelsea)Chiamaka Nnadozie (Nigeria, Paris FC/Brighton)Daphne van Domselaar (Netherlands, Arsenal)

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

Daphne van Domselaar has been outstanding all season for Arsenal, central to their Champions League run and league campaign. She is my Arsenal player of the year ahead of any outfielder.

The competition is formidable: Ann-Katrin Berger was exceptional for Germany at the Euros and won the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup; Hannah Hampton claimed the domestic treble with Chelsea and excelled in penalty shoot-outs at the Euros; Chiamaka Nnadozie won the WAFCON with Nigeria and the Coupe de France Féminine with Paris FC, although her club season was less impressive than the previous one; Cata Coll won the domestic treble but lost both the Women’s Champions League and the Euros in the final, making her an unlikely winner here.

Women’s Johan Cruyff Trophy 2025 nominees

Sonia Bompastor (France, Chelsea)Arthur Elias (Brazil, Brazil national team)Justine Madugu (Nigeria, Nigeria national team)Renée Slegers (Netherlands, Arsenal)Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands, England national team)

Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

France Football’s approach here is predictable: all nominees are winners. They include the three national coaches who won continental titles (UEFA, CONMEBOL, CAF), the Champions League-winning coach and the domestic treble-winning coach in England.

Renée Slegers has been transformative since taking over, but Sarina Wiegman’s achievement of winning three consecutive Euros and reaching the final of every major tournament she has managed will be hard to beat.

The African and South American champions also have strong claims.

Women’s Club of the Year Trophy 2025 nominees

Arsenal (England)Barcelona (Spain)Chelsea (England)Lyon (France)Orlando Pride (United States)

Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images

This is effectively a contest between four league champions and the Champions League winners. The criteria are not entirely clear, so the decision will likely reflect voters’ preferences for the quality of leagues and tournaments contested.

The competition across all categories is fierce. In the main Ballon d’Or award, there is no runaway favourite this year.

In previous seasons, one or two names stood clearly above the rest, but this time there are at least 10 plausible winners among the 30 nominees, and you can read about that in Part 2.