Ballon d’Or 2022 power rankings: Could Beth Mead gatecrash the party and beat Alexia Putellas to women’s award?

Here, though, we are focused on the women’s Ballon d’Or, and look at how silverware has played a part when it comes to individual awards.

There is a short history when it comes to the Ballon d’Or Feminin, which was first awarded in 2018, but there is enough to suggest a handful of English players will break into the top 20 after their recent triumph.

Scroll down to read our top five – with several honourable mentions to boot – to see whether we are backing Mead to trouble the reigning Ballon d’Or holder Alexia Putellas for the 2022 prize…

5. Ada Hegerberg (Lyon & Norway)

4. Wendie Renard (Lyon & France)

Had Barcelona won the Champions League, this top five would look entirely different, but instead we’re expecting Lyon players to feature prominently in the top 20 – France Football has gone with 20 players for their women’s shortlist – and expect captain Renard to make the top five.

Voting for defenders isn’t always a given, but Renard placed joint-seventh in 2018 and sixth a year later. If France won the Euros, the momentum would have been with her to potentially claim the prize outright, but a painful semi-final exit to Germany ended her hopes of lifting another major trophy this year. She could trouble the Ballon d’Or podium, but a Lioness may well have just pushed her off.

3. Beth Mead (Arsenal & England)

Is Mead the third best female player on the planet? No. And you would argue she’s not the best player in the WSL (see below…) or at Arsenal either (Vivianne Miedema, in case you were wondering).

But, when push comes to shove, voters remember moments, they remember silverware, and they remember the players who steered their teams to success.

That should strengthen her bid when voters look beyond the six goals and five assists at Euro 2022, and when you say it aloud – the fact she had a hand in exactly half of England’s tournament goals – you start to wonder whether Mead could in fact finish higher than third.

The 2019 Ballon d’Or voting tells us the USA’s World Cup win was key to Megan Rapinoe claiming that year’s prize (with compatriot Alex Morgan third), but this is the first year a Women’s European Championships has been held since France Football (finally) extended its accolade to female players.

Back in 2017, when the Dutch won the Euros, Lieke Martens won FIFA’s The Best award and UEFA Women’s Player of the Year Award, so don’t count Mead out just yet…

2. Sam Kerr (Chelsea & Australia)

Don’t. Forget. Kerr. The Australian will have watched the Euros from afar, unable to boost or hinder her own prospects, but like our No. 1 pick below, the Chelsea striker is arguably a benefactor from England winning the tournament. Reason being, had France (Renard/Katoto), the Netherlands (Miedema) or Norway (Hegerberg) won, this order may have looked a little different, while England’s triumph was down to strength in depth and key performances across the park.

Anyway, back to Kerr. She topped the WSL standings last season, claiming the FWA, PFA and WSL player of the year awards to boot as Chelsea won the title, plus she scored twice in the FA Cup final win over Manchester City, and those efforts will not go unnoticed. She placed third last year, and could yet beat that this year, but the golden ball is likely to evade her because…

1. Alexia Putellas (Barcelona & Spain)

That is not a given, but judging is based on the 2021-22 campaign, and Putellas was quite simply the best in show, inspiring Barcelona to a perfect league campaign (30 wins from 30) and winning UEFA’s player of the season award as well. They may have fallen just short in the Champions League, but it should not affect her Ballon d’Or prospects.

And with regards to the Euros, Spain’s quarter-final exit arguably shines a greater light on Putellas’ importance, and though her year has ended prematurely on the pitch, come October she could and probably will become the first female player to win back-to-back Ballon d’Ors.

It would be richly deserved.

Honourable mentions

Alexandra Popp and Lena Oberdorf will have boosted their chances of making the 20-player shortlist after both featuring in the Euro 2022 Team of the Tournament when helping Germany reach the final, while England’s centre-back pairing of Leah Williamson and Millie Bright, plus the influential Keira Walsh, will hope to make the top 20 at the very least as well.

We’re also expecting Miedema to make the top 10 despite the Netherlands falling short at the Euros, while Aitana Bonmati’s placing in the team of the tournament should enhance her own prospects. Along with Bonmati’s Barcelona team-mates, Caroline Graham Hansen and Jennifer Hermoso, plus Lyon’s Catarina Macario, it is difficult to settle on the names that will feature in the top 10, but look out for the shortlist next Friday – where a surprise or two could be in order.