Sportsupdated 53m ago2 min read
Archive photo · 28 February 2026Alexia Putellas Wins Record-Equalling Third Ballon d'Or Féminin
6 Western Mainstream3 Local WesternPhoto: Pedro J Pacheco, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
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Putellas won a third Ballon d'Or Féminin, level with Aitana Bonmatí. She plays for London City Lionesses after leaving Barcelona.
9 outlets told this the same way.
Putellas crowned in London
Alexia Putellas won the Ballon d'Or Feminin for a record-equalling third time, keeping the prize in Spanish hands for a sixth consecutive year.
Putellas, 32, captained Barcelona to Champions League glory as part of a quadruple in 2025-26 before joining Women's Super League side London City Lionesses in July.
Putellas told the crowd at the London Palladium, "All the boys and girls around the world - if you love football and if you want to play football, play football."
Putellas also said, "Doesn't matter where you come from. Don't listen if someone tells you, you can't do it. Believe in yourself."
Kane takes men’s prize
Harry Kane won the men's Ballon d'Or, becoming the first English player to do so since Michael Owen in 2001. The Bayern Munich attacker became the 5th Englishman to win football’s ultimate prize after Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen.
Kane’s Ballon d'Or win came as the Bayern Munich attacker had scored 36 goals in the Bundesliga and added 14 in the Champions League. The BBC also noted that Kane was crowned while Putellas kept the women’s prize in Spanish hands for a sixth consecutive year.
Spain dominates awards
The Ballon d'Or 2026 ceremony also distributed other top awards, with Luis de la Fuente named best coach and Lamine Yamal receiving the best young player distinction. rts.ch said Spain and FC Barcelona dominated all the top awards distributed at the Ballon d’Or 2026 ceremony, including the best coach title with Luis de la Fuente and best young player with Lamine Yamal.
rts.ch added that the blaugrana club achieved the quadruple, league, cup, Super Cup of Spain, and Champions League, alongside Pere Romeu winning the women’s best coach trophy. The BBC said Putellas collected the most votes from an international panel of journalists across Fifa's top-50 ranked countries, with Ewa Pajor coming second and Khadija Shaw third.