Ewa Pajor finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting for the best women’s player in the world. Her Barcelona teammate Alexia Putellas won the award, while Harry Kane triumphed in the men’s category.
The results were announced on Monday, October 26, during the 70th Ballon d’Or gala at the London Palladium. The award is organised by „France Football”, and for the first time the ceremony was held outside France. The prizes cover the 2025/26 season, i.e. the period from August 3, 2025 to July 19, 2026.
Pajor second, Putellas for the third time
Alexia Putellas won the Ballon d’Or Féminin for the third time in her career. According to ESPN, she finished ahead of, among others, Ewa Pajor and Melchie Dumornay, ending Aitana Bonmatí’s run, as the Spaniard had won over the past three years. The Spaniard won for her performances for FC Barcelona, although she moved to London City Lions over the summer.
According to the published ranking, the top five places went to: Putellas, Pajor, Khadija „Bunny” Shaw, Melchie Dumornay and Patri Guijarro (the list is cited, among others, by Yahoo Sports). The Pole, a Barcelona striker, is therefore the highest-ranked Polish player in the history of this award in this category – though this is an editorial assessment that requires confirmation, so we treat it with caution. What is certain is that the ranking was determined by a jury of journalists from countries in the top 100 of the FIFA rankings, each of whom voted for ten players.
Pajor received the Gerd Müller Trophy for the season’s best goalscorer last year, as Wikipedia notes in describing the previous gala from September 2025.
Kane wins first Ballon d’Or for an Englishman in 25 years
In the men’s category, the Ballon d’Or went to Harry Kane. According to ESPN, he beat Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal in the race, and it is the first such award for an Englishman in 25 years. The previous winner was Michael Owen in 2001. RMF24 reports that the England captain scored 61 goals in 51 matches for Bayern Munich, which won the Bundesliga and the German Cup, and scored six goals at the World Cup, leading his squad to the semifinals.
The previous winners were: Ousmane Dembélé (2025), Rodri (2024) and Lionel Messi (2023).
What it means
For Polish fans, this is the biggest success ever for a Polish player in the women’s Ballon d’Or – second place among 30 nominees. Pajor plays for Barcelona, so the result also reflects the standing of the club, whose players took the top places in the voting. The next edition will assess the 2026/27 season; the date of the gala has not yet been announced.
