The Ballon d’Or awards never fail to stir the pot. Each year, be it in terms of nominations or eventual winners, somehow, eyebrows are raised across the beautiful game as one witnesses drama both on and off the stage. In yet another edition of this year’s prestigious awards, the one in question is Aitana Bonmati, who secured the coveted women’s Ballon d’Or, also marking her third in a row. Then again, this result only led the soccer world to indulge in an intense debate.

The FC Barcelona Feminin midfielder secured the win by beating out her Spain teammate Mariona Caldentey, even though Spain lost to England on penalties in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 final. The 27-year-old midfielder was named Player of the Tournament at the Women’s Euros, despite not starting Spain’s first two games while recovering from viral meningitis. Meanwhile, England striker Alessia Russo, who helped her team win the Euros, finished in third place.

Moreover, Aitana Bonmati even missed out on the Women’s Champions League title last season, losing to Caldentey’s domestic side Arsenal. No wonder that after the ceremony, the CBS Sports Golazo show newsrooms saw an interesting debate brew among presenters Poppy Miller and Nico Cantor, former NWSL star Darian Jenkins, and retired English midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker.

Jenkins pointed out that the top 10 alone made the results feel heavily “European-based.” She questioned how Bonmati, who only secured a domestic treble with Barcelona and not even the Euros, managed to claim the Ballon d’Or. This raised another debate: if the Champions League doesn’t carry as much weight on the women’s side, should the same standard apply to the men’s side as well?

After all, Lamine Yamal, who reached only the Champions League semifinals but won the Euros with Spain last year, might have benefited. In contrast, Ousmane Dembélé‘s case seemed boosted mainly by PSG’s prestigious domestic and Champions League triumphs. This saw Nigel Reo-Coker firmly agree, saying, “100%,” before questioning whether Bonmati had essentially been rewarded with just participation trophies.

“Without a doubt, she is the best individually talented player in the world. When you talk about technical ability, skill, she is the best player. But for the metrics on what we’ve seen in how this all won today and give her credit, she was surprised… she had no expectation… she didn’t really feel that she was going to win today. So I give her credit for that,” admitted Reo-Coker, praising Bonmati’s self-awareness.

The entire panel agreed that Bonmati’s third consecutive win should have “1000%” gone to Mariona Caldentey or Alessia Russo. In fact, the debate over whether the Barcelona star truly deserved another Ballon d’Or ended with skepticism about the voting process and how it actually works. Unsurprisingly, much of the internet shared the same disbelief and raised similar questions.

Third Ballon d’Or from Aitana Bonmati leaves the soccer world debating

The official X page of CBS Sports Golazo’s Attacking Third shared a part of this conversation, where fans couldn’t hold back and clarified their stance. Just like the pundits, many fans had just one doubt: “How does this voting truly works?” Sadly, we don’t have an answer, and neither does the Ballon d’Or community.

Everyone knows that the votes of over 100 journalists from the top FIFA-ranked nations are considered in deciding the winner. Yet, year after year, the same story seems to play out. The harsh reality is that the Ballon d’Or frustrates fans, with its credibility and popularity steadily sinking. Most teams skip the awards ceremony, possibly because of the various winners.

It prompted this fan to write, “Stopped caring about this event since Nedved won it that year over Titi, I just didn’t understand the criteria they used for winning it..it’s all so inconsistent. Aitana had no business winning this year’s award… Zero. Compare it against the last two she won, zero justification.” Back then, Pavel Nedved of Juventus won the men’s Ballon d’Or after scoring 14 goals and three assists. On the other hand, Thierry Henry scored 32 goals and created 28 assists, which became a talking point back then. 

Now, coming to Aitana Bonmati winning her third award. How she managed to secure this one, and more precisely, on what basis, is something that the Ballon d’Or community really needs to offer an explanation. If not, it seems like this fan has a reason why the Spaniard eventually did win: “Imagine you are playing such a season and you are still winning it, because of the fact, that you won it in the previous two years. That’s the only reason she won it,” one wrote.

No Champions League or Euros, you say? Well, does UWCL Player of the Season (third in a row), Women’s Euros Player of the Tournament, UWCL top assister and creator, Team of the Season for both the Euros and the UWCL, as well as the domestic treble count? Maybe yes, or maybe it doesn’t. Either way, this netizen believes Bonmati deserved her win: “She’s been immense over a prolonged period of time which has nothing to do with what your team wins or don’t win, you are judged on what you do as individual, and on that alone, she absolutely deserves Ballon d’Or No. 3.”

Often, we have seen many slam these individual awards as “European-biased.” We wouldn’t be surprised to hear the same in this edition. As truth be told, many names outside the European scene weren’t included, like Marta, who, despite being 39, has been performing like a top player. But even as we saw European domination, the fact that Bonmati won it over other potential deserving names indeed keeps the Ballon d’Or in a gray area. “It should have been Alessia Russo!!! 😭 Even Caldentey would have been a fairer choice with Arsenal being UWCL champions 😭,” said another.

Be that as it may, this is just a glimpse of what unfolded as hundreds of fans came forward to question the credibility and voting process of the Ballon d’Or. It only makes one wonder how long it will be until we actually see the soccer community agree on at least one winner.

Your answer would probably be ‘never,’ and we get it—not everyone will agree every time. But the fact that these issues and mistakes have become almost monotonous only raises questions for the stakeholders. Either way, share your thoughts in the comments below.