Alessia Russo

10. Leah Williamson

The captain of the Lionesses and Arsenal youth academy graduate, who fulfilled two dreams this year. She has been playing for Arsenal since she was eight, when she joined the club's academy. And this year, she brought the Champions League trophy back to England with the club she loves after 18 years. As if that weren't enough, two months later Williamson led England to defend their title at the Euros, becoming the first England captain to win the title on foreign soil.

9. Claudia Pina

The young star of Barcelona and Spain became the top scorer in the Champions League this year. And her successes continue into the new season—for example, she recently helped Spain win the Nations League final with two goals. At only 24, she still has a great deal ahead of her, and it wouldn’t be surprising if this outstanding forward climbs even higher in the top 100 now that she’s firmly established herself for both Barcelona and Spain.

8. Ewa Pajor 

The top scorer in Liga F, she has surpassed Spanish stars such as Pina, Putellas, and Bonmatí in terms of goals scored. Although she is still waiting for her first Champions League title, Pajor has had a successful year. In addition to her scoring successes in Barcelona, she also did well in the national team. Thanks mainly to her efforts, Poland qualified for the Euros for the first time, where they were not among the favorites, but still managed to defeat the much more favored Denmark.

7. Patri Guijarro 

Long overshadowed by Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí for both club and country, her years of orchestrating play frequently went unnoticed. Now, however, she has begun adding goals to her repertoire, making her an even more intimidating challenge for opponents. An injury disrupted the latter part of her year, and both Barcelona and Spain clearly feel her absence when she’s not on the pitch. She breaks into the top 10 for the first time, after placing 13th last year and 11th in 2023. She is currently injured, but fans of both Barca and Spain are exciting for her comeback.

6. Temwa Chawinga

The only representative of the American NWSL on the list. Chawinga will at last have the chance to showcase her talent on a continental stage when she represents Malawi at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations — a reward she has more than earned. Building on an outstanding first season in the NWSL, the Kansas City Current forward netted 15 goals to claim her second Golden Boot as she helped lead her team to the NWSL Shield. Sadly, her Current lost in playoff to NY Gotham. 

5. Hannah Hampton

Hampton was also voted BBC Player of the Year by fans. No wonder. The player, who as a child was told by doctors that she should never play sports, was Chelsea's unshakeable number one this year, winning the domestic treble and securing the title for England at Euro She became a heroine when she saved two penalty kicks, especially the final one.

4.  Alexia Putellas

La Reina, as Putellas is also known, has fully put her injury troubles in the past, reclaiming her starring role for both Barcelona and Spain in 2025. Her 16 league goals and 11 assists last season outshone her teammates as the club marched to further domestic triumphs. She continued her strong form at Euro 2025, though she fell just short of leading Spain to their first European crown

3. Alessia Russo

She scored the first and last goals for the Lionesses this year. But that's not Russo's only achievement. The 26-year-old Englishwoman shone at Arsenal and in the national team, celebrating success with both. This includes her individual career—she became the WSL's top scorer. She celebrated the Champions League title with Arsenal, and her goal in the Euro final sent the match into a penalty shootout, where the English women defended their 2022 victory. She has also been successful in front of goal this year, scoring four goals in the Champions League. 

2.  Mariona Caldentey

Arsenal's magician. Caldentey’s finest season to date has earned her a career-best ranking. After narrowly missing out on the top 10 last year. Playing a pivotal role in Arsenal’s Champions League triumph and standing out for Spain during their run to the Euro 2025 final where she scored and opened the score for Spain.

1.Aitana Bonmatí

Winner of the Golden Ball in 2025, when she became the first player ever to achieve a hattrick. She earned Uefa’s Champions League Player of the Season award for 2024-25 and was also honoured as Player of the Tournament at Euro 2025. While remaining central to Barcelona’s domestic dominance, she also delivered in decisive moments — including providing the spark Spain needed in their Euro semi-final against Germany.

Discover the whole list here.

In England's match against China, which ended in a clear 8-0 victory, Georgie Stanway achieved something that only Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones had managed before her: scoring a hat trick at a packed Wembley Stadium.

• The first two goals came early: Beth Mead opened the scoring, then quickly added a second from close range.
• Then Lauren Hemp struck to make it 3–0 — all within a short span, giving England a strong start.
• Stanway, who went on to score a hat trick (one goal was a successful penalty kick), is also the first midfielder to achieve such a feat.
• In the second half additional goals came from Ella Toone and Alessia Russo, rounding off the emphatic win.
• The match drew a large crowd (74,611 spectators), underlining strong public support for the Lionesses and the growing popularity of the women’s game.

Arsenal dominate at the King Power Stadium with a 4–1 win over Leicester City. Their dominance was clear from the start. Alessia Russo opened the scoring early, putting Arsenal ahead in the 7th minute. A 32nd-minute own goal by Leicester’s Sari Kees made it 2–0 in favour of Arsenal. Before half-time, Stina Blackstenius struck in the 36th minute to make it 3–0.  Leicester pulled one back late through Noémie Mouchon in the 83rd minute. Blackstenius sealed the result with her second goal in the 84th minute, closing out the match at 4–1. 

Although the Gooners did not start the match against West Ham well—a goalkeeper error in the 5th minute led to a goal—they ultimately managed to win 5-1. Alessia Russo contributed two goals and was named player of the match. 

Arsenal confirmed that forward Alessia Russo (26) has signed a new long-term contract, reinforcing her future with the club. Russo joined Arsenal from Manchester United in July 2023. Since then, she has racked up 36 goals in 72 appearances and played pivotal roles in Arsenal’s 2024 League Cup win and their 2025 Champions League triumph. 

Last season, Russo shared the WSL Golden Boot and was honored as the Football Writers' Association’s Women’s Footballer of the Year. She also earned places in the PFA and UEFA Teams of the Year, in addition to a Ballon d’Or nomination.

“Arsenal feels like home… Playing for Arsenal is an honour and has pushed me to develop and grow as a player," said Russo about her new deal with Gooners. 

Aitana Bonmatí, Alexia Putellas—or will the list of Ballon d’Or winners gain a new name? The biggest contender is this year’s Champions League winner, Arsenal, with seven players on the shortlist. Many of them—such as Leah Williamson and Alessia Russo—also won the Euros. Which of them will be crowned the best footballer in the world for 2025?

Back to the roots. Arsenal have unveiled their third kit, a throwback to the original from the 80s and 90s. Alessia Russo, Beth Mead and Katie McCabe were also present at the kit launch.

England and Spain will play in the Euro final tonight. The teams have already met twice this year in the Nations League. The Lionesses won 1:0 at home at Wembley, but lost 2:1 in the rematch in Spain after two goals by Claudia Pina.

Sarina Wiegman's protégé have two reasons to seek revenge. In addition to their defeat in the Nations League in May this year, they are also motivated by Spain's victory over England in the 2023 World Cup final.  At the same time, Spain has never won the European Championship. They too are motivated to win the long-awaited title.

• After earning Player of the Match with three assists against the Netherlands, Russo faced online slurs accusing her of benefiting from media hype (“PRusso”).
• Russo disproved criticism about her goal tally by showcasing her versatility: she holds up play, tracks back aggressively, and creates chances—her trio of assists marked the first three-assist game at any Euros.

Read the full Suzanne Wrack's article on The Guardian.

On Saturday 10 May, the last Women's Super League matches were played and the 2024/25 season came to an end. The announcement of the best players did not have to wait long.

• Player of the year: Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal). The Player of the Year was newcomer in the English league Mariona Caldentey, who joined Arsenal from Barcelona at the beginning of the season. In 21 games she has scored 9 goals and 5 assists and the Gunners will rely on her skills in the UWCL final that is still to come.
• Golden boot: Alessia Russo (Arsenal) and Bunny Shaw (Manchester City) - both 12 goals. The Golden Boot, the award for the top scorer of the season, is divided between Arsenal's Alessia Russo and Manchester City's Bunny Shaw. Russo also recently won the award by the Football Writers' Association (FWA) for the best female football player. Shaw might have improved her stats, unfortunately she hasn't played since March due to a thigh injury.
• Golden glove: Hannah Hampton (Chelsea) and Phallon Tullis - Joyce (Manchester United) - both 13 clean sheets. Despite Chelsea being league champions, the club only won one award - the golden glove for best goalkeeper, which went to number one for both the Blues and Lionesses Hannah Hampton. Red Devils number one Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who joined the English league from the NWSL at the start of the season, has the same number of clean sheets.
• Goal of the season: Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City) - The Dutch cannonballer left Arsenal at the beginning of the season, where she spent 7 seasons and was one of the most productive players of the London team. However, the transfer to the Citizens did not compromise her performance - in 11 matches she scored seven times. Her goal against Aston Villa was awarded the best goal of the season.
• Rising star: Shekiera Martinez (West Ham United). The German player has returned to the Hammers after a year-long loan from Freiburg and it has obviously done her good. In March, she became the first ever West Ham player to be awarded player of the month. In April, she scored four goals in one game against Crystal Palace.

• Alessia Russo is officially the Barclays Women’s Super League top goalscorer for the 2024/25 season.
• Russo netted 12 goals throughout the campaign, beginning with a goal against her former club, Manchester United, in November. She continued her scoring run with five consecutive matches finding the back of the net.
• Her final WSL goal came in April during an away match against Aston Villa.
• With 36 goals in 71 appearances for Arsenal, Russo has become the club's second all-time top scorer at Emirates Stadium, trailing only behind Beth Mead.
• Alessia Russo also won the Football Writers' awards. The award is presented by the Football Writers' Association (FWA) for the best female football player in England this season. She beat last year's winner Bunny Shaw to become only the second Arsenal player to win the award. Her Arsenal teammate Mariona Caldentey finished third, Chelsea's Millie Bright fourth

Big news for all the football fans. Two Lionesses - Ella Toone and Alessia Russo are launching second season of their of their successful podcast Tooney and Russo show. They are not just back, but stronger than ever.

The second series of the inseparable duo of these best friends and amazing footballers will begin on Monday 12 May and will be available to listen to on BBC Sounds and podcast apps as well as YouTube. They will be kept company by presenter Vick Hope.

Tooney and Alessia aren't the only Lionesses with a podcast. Millie Bright and Rachel Daly have also recently launched their own show. In the podcast The Rest is Football: Daly Brightness relaxedly talks about football and everything around it.