Melchie Dumornay tops The Guardian’s Women’s Ballon d’Or 2026 power rankings
The Guardian on 1 October 2026 published its power rankings for the 2026 Women’s Ballon d’Or, placing Melchie Dumornay of OL Lyonnes at number one in what it described as a wide-open race to be named the world’s best female player. The feature ranks 30 players and assesses their club and international form over the past season.
Dumornay, 23, was a central figure as OL Lyonnes completed a domestic treble despite the club’s 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in last season’s Champions League final. She was named player of the year by the French players’ union, missed the Champions League semi-final first leg — a 2-1 loss to Arsenal — through injury and returned to produce a player-of-the-match display in the 3-1 second-leg win. Dumornay scored five goals in Lyonnes’ Champions League run and was named in the team of the tournament.
Ewa Pajor, 29, is ranked second after scoring twice as Barcelona thrashed Lyonnes in Oslo and finishing with 11 goals in European competition, a tally the piece notes matched Alexia Putellas’s 2021-22 total and has not been bettered since Ada Hegerberg’s 15 in 2017-18. Pajor also scored 16 goals in Liga F, behind only Barcelona teammate Claudia Pina who scored 21. Khadija Shaw is third; the 29-year-old, the only player to win three WSL golden boots (consecutively), scored 21 goals in 22 games as Manchester City secured a league and FA Cup double and signed a new contract.
Alexia Putellas is fourth after a final season at Barcelona that produced seven Champions League goals and nine goals with seven assists in Liga F as Barcelona completed a quadruple, and the 32-year-old scored the second and third goals in a 4-0 win over England that secured Spain’s World Cup qualification. Yui Hasegawa returns to the longlist at fifth, the 29-year-old a key component in Manchester City’s double, named in the PFA team of the year and part of Japan’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup-winning campaign that earned World Cup qualification. Alessia Russo, 27, is sixth after switching between No 9 and No 10 for Arsenal, being named in the PFA team of the year and moving into England’s top-10 goalscorers with her April goal against Iceland in World Cup qualifying.
Temwa Chawinga, ranked seventh, was the NWSL top scorer and MVP for a second consecutive season with 15 goals as Kansas City Current won the NWSL Shield by finishing top in the regular season, and she scored five goals to take Malawi to the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final and help her country to their first World Cup. Claudia Pina is eighth after scoring 21 goals and providing five assists in Liga F, with only two Champions League goals, and netting twice in Spain’s World Cup qualifying including the fourth against England. Patri Guijarro, ninth, was handed Barcelona’s captaincy after Putellas’s exit, played a central midfield role in the club’s quadruple and was cited for helping to keep Lyonnes at bay in the Champions League final.
Barbra Banda, tenth, scored eight goals as Orlando Pride finished fourth in the NWSL and exited in the semi-finals, and she finished as joint-top scorer at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations with five goals despite Zambia finishing third in Group C and failing to reach the knockouts on head-to-head goals. Kerstin Casparij provided the joint-most assists in the WSL last season with seven, captained Manchester City when Alex Greenwood was injured and is 26. Mariona Caldentey, 30, played slightly deeper in midfield for Arsenal last season but continued to deliver for club and Spain.
Caroline Graham Hansen, 31, scored 10 goals and finished as joint-highest assist provider in Liga F with 10 while also scoring four times in the Champions League. Selma Bacha, 25, was named in the Champions League team of the season and in the Premiere Ligue team of the season as Lyonnes completed the domestic treble. Pernille Harder, 33, scored a joint-second 16 goals in the Frauen Bundesliga and added eight in Europe, earning a place in the Champions League team of the season. Vivianne Miedema missed five games at the end of the season due to knee surgery, scored 10 league goals and was noted for the difference her absence made as Manchester City won their first WSL title in 10 years.
Mapi León, 31, was named in the Champions League team of the season, provided seven league assists for Barcelona and joined London City Lionesses in July. Rose Lavelle, 31, scored the winning goal in the 80th minute of the NWSL Championship final for Gotham FC after the side had scraped into the playoffs from eighth place and was named in the NWSL team of the month in September and October/November. Lorena, 29, kept 14 clean sheets as Kansas City Current secured the NWSL Shield, was named goalkeeper of the year and featured in the NWSL Best XI despite a quarter-final playoff exit to Gotham. Manaka Matsukubo, 22, scored 11 goals for North Carolina Courage (third-most in the division), was named NWSL midfielder of the year and in the NWSL Best XI, helped Japan to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup title — scoring her first international goal during the tournament — and secured a move to Chelsea in July.
The rankings continue from 21 to 30 with Klara Bühl, Cata Coll, Alex Greenwood, Wendie Renard, Esmee Brugts, Momoko Tanikawa, Caroline Weir, Melvine Malard, Scarlett Camberos and Tessa Wullaert listed. This piece is an extract from The Guardian’s free email Moving the Goalposts; to receive the full edition follow the instructions on the subscription page and note Moving the Goalposts is delivered to inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.