The Ballon d'Or Féminin, which is also known as the Women's Ballon d'Or, is a football award presented by France Football. This award is given to the best female association football player. It was first awarded in 2018, with Ada Hegerberg of Norway women's national football team becoming the inaugural recipient of the award. The recent recipient of this award is Alexia Putellas. So let us look at the Ballon d'Or winners.

So let us have a look at the Ballon d'Or winners list:

#3. Alexia Putellas (2021)- 

The Spanish midfielder was an integral player in Barcelona's treble-winning season, helping the club to get their hands on the Women's Champions League, the Primera Iberdrola, and the Copa de la Reina. In the 2021 season, in an excellent Barcelona side; Putellas has been the best player, contributing a remarkable 37 goals and 27 assists.

#2. Megan Rapinoe (2019)- 

The American forward won the Women's Ballon d'Or in 2019 after leading the United States to the World Cup title in July. Rapinoe scored six goals in the tournament; earning the Golden Boot as the top scorer and the Golden Ball as the best player.

#1. Ada Hegerberg (2018)- 

The Lyon striker won the award after scoring 53 goals in 33 appearances for Lyon. Her 31 league goals made her the top scorer for the third year in a row in D1 Féminine; while her 15 goals in the Champions League set a new competition record. Beating her previous record of 14. The Norwegian led her side to the Women's Champions League title, scoring in extra time in the 4-1 win over Vfl Wolfsburg in the final.

USWNT Defender Naomi Girma has joined Chelsea Women for a world-record transfer fee for a female footballer. The Women's Super League leaders paid €1 million to San Diego Wave FC to secure the services of the 24-year-old defender.

Girma was officially presented on the pitch by the Women’s Super League champions before Sunday’s 1-0 victory against Arsenal Women at Stamford Bridge.

It's official. ✍️

Naomi Girma plays for Chelsea Football Club. 🔵 pic.twitter.com/hb7OMyhE06

— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) January 26, 2025

Girma signs for Chelsea for a world-record fee

The world record for the highest transfer fees paid for a female footballer was held by Bay FC, who paid €685,000 for Racheal Kundananji in February 2024.

Chelsea has broken the transfer world record and also surpassed the British transfer signing record as well, previously held by Mayra Ramirez, who signed for Chelsea for a €384,000 transfer fee.

Girma has also become the first-ever €1M signing in women's football.

Chelsea Women gaffer Sonia Bompastor has made her first January 2025 signing with Girma as she will enter the team roster after Chelsea defender Kadeisha Buchanan suffered an ACL tear injury in November 2024.

World-record signing Naomi Girma was presented at Stamford Bridge 🤩🔵 pic.twitter.com/vqT0XneC0C

— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 26, 2025

Naomi Girma played an integral part in USWNT's Olympic Gold-winning campaign in Paris last year and was also named the US Soccer’s female player of the year in 2023. She was also named the NWSL Defender of the Year in 2022 and 2023.

However, Girma has signed a huge 4-year deal until 2029 as Chelsea head of women’s football Paul Green affirmed his confidence in this signing.

Naomi is a world-class defender who is now coming into the prime years of her career.

Girma also expressed her excitement about joining the Blues as she stated to BBC Sport:

I'm so happy and really excited to be here. It doesn't feel real,

There are a lot of things about Chelsea that made me want to come here - the culture, the winning mentality, staff and players.

It's a top environment to learn and grow in. Right now, that's what I'm looking to do.

Record transfers in women's football

East Bengal commenced their Indian Women's League (IWL) 2024-25 season with a commendable 2- 0 victory over Kickstart FC at the historic East Bengal Ground on 10th January 2025. Two brilliant goals scored by Sandhya Ranganathan and Resty Nanzary are enough to take three points for the Red and Gold brigade.

The home side's first goal materialized by another regular starter for India Soumya Guguloth played a crucial role in that goal. She delivered a ball from the right for Sulanjana Raul, whose header struck the crossbar. The rebound was found by Sandhya Ranganathan, who netted it with a beautiful header.

Read Also | Exclusive Shreya Hooda: Best Goalkeeper in IWL & NFC, National team and the World Cup dream

Maintaining their momentum, East Bengal doubled their lead early in the second half. In the 49th minute, Ugandan recruit Resty Nanzari, made a beautiful run from the left side of the pitch and showcased her skill by delivering a precise low shot into the near post, and securing a goal. That was enough to start a season with a commendable victory for the home side.

Kickstart FC, originating from Bengaluru, attempted to penetrate East Bengal's defence but struggled to create promising opportunities in the attacking third. The host's defence was rock solid and effectively neutralized a clean sheet to start their IWL campaign on a positive note.

Read Also | Indumathi, Shilky, Shreya among the winners of IWL 2023-24 awards

The victory provided East Bengal with a solid foundation for positive progress in the IWL season, they were rock solid in defence and also offensively great. Conversely, Kickstart FC will aim to enhance their strategies in the upcoming matches to rebound from the initial setback. 

Debutant Lhingdeikim's four goals along with Simran Gurung's brace helped the Indian Women's Football team thrash Maldives by 11-1 in their FIFA Friendly match in Bangalore. Kajol Dsouza, Pooja, Sibani Devi, and Khumukcham Bhumika Devi were the other scorers for Blue Tigeress. 

After beating Bangladesh by 14-0 in their final match of 2024, the Indian Women's Football team started the 2025 on a great note with an emphatic win over the visitors, Maldives. 

India head coach Joakim Alexandersson made many changes to the team that played against Bangladesh which handed two debutants a chance in the starting XI. Lhingdeikim, who scored four goals (twice in both halves) and Shibani Devi, who last year featured for East Bengal FC in the Indian Women's League were among the changes Alexandersson.

Read Also | Indian Women's Football team crush Maldives 14-0 in FIFA Friendly

Ribansi Jamu, Thingbaijam Sanjita Devi, Juhi Singh, Monisha Singha, Khumukcham Bhumika Devi and Simran Gurung were the players who made their debut off the bench. 

Read Also | Exclusive: Here's how Football giving hope to "Mini-Brazil of India"

Maldives looked good in the early minutes which forced Linthoingambi Devi to make some saves but once the Indian team resolved the issue and found their pace, they were tough to resist.

Lhingdeikim started the onslaught for India with an early goal in the 12th minute before providing an assist for Kajol Dsouza to extend the lead three minutes later. She found the net again in the next minute after receiving a perfect ball from Sibani. In the 17th minute, Sangita Basfore's header was deflected into the goal by Maldives captain Hawwa Haneefa. 

However, right before the halfway mark, Maldives scored their only goal of the match as Mariyam Rifa found the net after a defensive error from the Indian team. 

But, India struck again before half-time with Pooja and Shibani scoring one each. At half-time, India were leading by 6-1 and it looked like we would have the scoreline just like the last match. 

Lhingdeikim started the second half by scoring from a beautiful assist by Pooja in the 56th minute. A minute later she scored her fourth goal of the match by flicking a ball with his right foot for a neat finish. This time, Kajol was the assist provider for her. 

Simran Gurung, who came off the bench at halftime, scored two goals in the 62nd and 68th minutes. A red card for Maeesha Abdul Hannan did not help the Maldives as well as the defender made a deliberate handball inside the penalty box. Bhumika Devi converted the penalty in the 71st minute to complete the riot. 

Scorecard | India vs Maldives | FIFA Friendlies (Women's)

Maldives 1 (Mariyam Rifa 27’)

India 11 (Lhingdeikim 12’, 16’, 56’, 59’, Kajol Dsouza 15’, Hawwa Haneefa 17’ o.g., Pooja 41’, Sibani Devi 45+1’, Simran Gurung 62’, 68’, Khumukcham Bhumika Devi 71’ p)

UEFA has confirmed the title of the second-division women's European football tournament. The new flagship tournament will be called the 'UEFA Women's Europa Cup', which will aim to expand the competitiveness of women's football in continental stages. 

Presenting the 🏆 UEFA Women’s Europa Cup 🏆!

The UEFA Executive Committee has approved the name of the newly created second women’s club competition that will kick off from the 2025/26 season.

🤩 An exciting new era for women's football in Europe!

— UEFA (@UEFA) December 16, 2024

The tournament is set to commence from the 2025-26 season and will adopt a knockout format.

A new era begins

On 2 December 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee approved the post-2025 sporting concept for European women’s club football.

The UEFA Women's Europa Cup will be of similar importance as the UEFA Europa League which is the existing second-divison of men's European football competitions. However, the 'Cup' in the title implies the knockout status of the newly-formed tournament.

UEFA has addressed the new tournament to be "primed for drama and unpredictability". The official logo, branding, and trophy design will be unveiled in 2025.

Format and qualification 

The UEFA Women’s Europa Cup will be played consisting of six different rounds– two qualifying rounds, the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a two-legged final to crown the inaugural champions.

13 teams will be eligible for direct qualification to this tournament; third-placed teams from leagues of the UEFA nations ranked 8-13, and runners-up from associations ranked 18-24.

The UEFA Women's Europa Cup's first qualifying round will primarily feature 11 teams eliminated in the UEFA Women's Champions League second qualifying round. On the other hand, 20 teams eliminated from the UWCL second and third qualifying rounds will enter the Europa Cup second qualifying round.

Significant changes in women's football in Europe

Major boost incoming for Women's club football in Europe from next season onwards, featuring:

👑 A revamped and fully centralised @UWCL
🏆 The new UEFA Women's Europa Cup
💰 A new financial distribution system that will benefit clubs across the continent.

More: ⤵️

— UEFA (@UEFA) December 16, 2024

As the UEFA Women's Champions League will also welcome notable changes from next season onwards, UEFA shows its commitment to expanding women's football to more countries marking a long-standing transformation. UEFA stated the following in its official announcement in July 2024:

Both competitions have been developed with the aim of increasing competitiveness and maximising participation while also considering calendar constraints and player load.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin also stated:

UEFA has placed huge importance on developing women's football in recent years, making enormous strides thanks to a dedicated strategy, solid investment, and a passion to ensure the game is open to everybody. The new UEFA Women's Champions League format and the introduction of a second competition are further demonstration of this commitment and both will be exciting, competitive competitions that allow more players and clubs across the continent to dream of European glory.

Hello and welcome to another live coverage of Sportz Point. Tonight, we will cover the Ballon d'Or 2024 as all the eyes of football fans get ready to witness the football king post-Messi-Ronaldo era. 

This will be the first time in nearly 21 years that either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo have not been nominated for one of the most prestigious awards in football.

Players like Kylian Mbappe, Rodri, and Vinicius Jr will be the favourites to win the Men's Ballon d'Or while Aitana Bonmati, Lucy Bronze and Alexia Putellas will be the favourites to win the Women's Ballon d'Or 2024.

Read Also | Ballon d'Or 2024: Full list of nominees and FAQs

Lamine Yamal is the only player nominated for both Men's Ballon d'Or and Kopa Trophy 2024. 

Stay tuned as we bring you all the updates and winners list of Ballon d'Or 2024 from our web desk.