There are many big players at this stage of the Feminin Prize, including another from the Lionesses squad.

Barcelona’s Patri Guijarro just misses the top ten, ahead of Chelsea’s Lauren James (13th) and Man City’s Bunny Shaw (15th).

Former winner Ada Hegerberg (14th) is also in this group – she of course won the very first Feminin Prize.

Lucia Brons at number 20 in the Feminin Prize!

Another big campaign for the Lionesses full-back.

Gabi Portilho and Giulia Gwinn are just inside the top twenty.

Toni Rudiger is in 22nd place and then it is Arsenal star Bukayo Saka who just misses out on the top 20 this year, in 21st place after another great campaign with the Gunners.

Another fantastic goal this weekend!

There was one goalkeeper, Lev Yashin, and a trio of defenders, although Fabio Cannavaro was more of a stopper than German midfielders Franz Beckenbauer and Matthias Sammer, who had been converted into sweepers. But there has never been a defensive midfielder. The Ballon d’Or is almost seventy years old and Rodri, the man who won Manchester City’s first Champions League, could also make history in another respect.

But why would he? The Ballon d’Or is usually reserved for attackers and players with flair. His job description implies selflessness. The defensive midfielder is constructed in such a way that others can take the credit. And yet the paradox of Rodri is that he has reached such a level, achieved so much himself for his respective teams, that the spotlight is back on him.

Richard Jolly on what Rodri winning would mean:

Aitana Bonmati is in the house!

The Barcelona icon won the Feminin Award last year and is favorite to do so again this time.

He won’t win the award this year – Dani Carvajal and Ale Grimaldo are the only full-backs in the running – but Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold has already set himself the target of winning the Ballon d’Or in the future.

“I want to be the first full-back to ever do this (win the award),” he told Sky Sports. “It’s not until the morning after you retire that you can look in the mirror and say, ‘I gave it everything I’ve got.’

“It doesn’t matter how many trophies you win, or how many medals you have. It matters what you give to the game and whether you reach your full potential.

“(I want to be remembered as) a football legend, someone who changed the game. That’s the biggest thing I have: ‘don’t play the game; change the game’. I want that legacy of the best right back to play football.

“I have to reach for the stars and that’s where I believe my ceiling can go.”

Two more Premier League stars: defensive duo William Saliba and Ruben Dias are next.

It seems likely we’ll see those names again in a year’s time, given how the top flight is going.

Now a men’s pair from England: Arsenal’s Declan Rice is first at 26th, and after his first full senior season it’s an incredible 25th for Cole Palmer.

Not a bad year for the Chelsea superstar, who of course scored in the Euro 2024 final.

Continuing with the first few men’s nominees and their placements:

Joint 29th are Artem Dovbyk of Girona last season and Mats Hummels of Dortmund last season – both now of Roma.

Alejandro Grimaldo is 28th after a fantastic year at Bayer Leverkusen, with PSG’s Vitinha finishing in 27th.

Well, based on Wiegman’s comment about the awards taking place during an international women’s break, we can expect the Ballon d’Or organizers to face some more criticism here, and rightly so.

The first ten female nominees are grouped together, five in one post – the first collection of men’s names to arrive is individualized and provided with accompanying videos, and so on.

Not quite the equality they’re trying to portray, right?