Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas wins women’s Ballon d’Or

England forward Beth Mead finished runner-up as Barcelona and Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the second successive year.

Putellas suffered a knee injury ahead of the start of Euro 2022, where Arsenal striker Mead went on to be top scorer and was named player of the tournament as the Lionesses soared to victory on home soil when they beat Germany in the final at Wembley.

“I’m very happy to be back here and pleased because a year ago I was able to win this prize and it pushed me to want to be even better,” Putellas said on collecting the trophy at a gala ceremony in Paris.

#WEURO2022 winner Golden Boot winner Player of the Tournament England Player of the Year 2nd place in the #BallonDor We are so, so proud of you, @bmeado9! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/29XCf5sPrm

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) October 17, 2022

“Injuring my knee in July, I did not think it would be possible (to win this award).”

England Euro 2022 winners Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright had also been nominated for the women’s prize, ranking 10th and 15th respectively in the France Football poll.

The Kopa Trophy for the best performing player under 21 went to Barcelona’s Gavi, with England and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham having also made the final shortlist.

The Socrates Award, named after Brazil’s 1982 World Cup captain, for the best social initiatives within the game went to Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mane, who has helped build hospitals and school in his homeland Senegal.

The Gerd Muller trophy for the best striker again went to Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, who joined Barcelona from Bayern Munich during the summer.

“I want to also thank my team-mates from both Bayern Munich and Barcelona, because I know how hard we