Aitana Bonmatí

Aitana Bonmatí was not one of the 30 women nominated for the 2026 Women's Ballon d'Or. The list came out on 8 September 2026, and her absence was the main surprise of it [4] [2]. She had won the award three years running, in 2023, 2024 and 2025 [5]. The ceremony was scheduled for Monday 26 October at the London Palladium Theatre [2]. None of the sources used for this page names the winner, so this page does not either.

Left off the 2026 shortlist

Excélsior attributes her exclusion mainly to an injury, and its report of 8 September 2026 says she was not among the 30 nominees [3]. Emisoras Unidas calls her absence the main surprise of the list [4]. The UEFA announcement lists 30 men and 30 women. She is not among the women [2].

Five months out with a fibula fracture

According to Excélsior, she broke her left fibula during a Spain national-team camp in November 2025, and the injury kept her off the pitch for five months [3]. She returned as a substitute in the Champions League semi-finals [3]. The club profile still lists her among the 2025/26 winners of the Liga F, the Spanish Super Cup and the Champions League [5]. The profile does not say how many matches she played that season. This page does not give a number.

Three Ballon d'Or wins

The club profile lists Ballon d'Or titles in 2023, 2024 and 2025 [5]. The 2023 award, in October, was the first time she won it [5]. It came after a year in which Spain won the World Cup and she was named the tournament's best player [5]. In January 2024 she added a FIFA The Best award, and she holds two of those, for 2023 and 2024 [5]. In April 2024 she became the first footballer to win the Laureus World Sportswomen of the Year award [5].

From the B team to the first team

She came through the club's reserve side, Barça Atlètic. In 2015/16 she led the B team to its first Second Division league title [5]. That season she also made her debut for the first team in the Cup, but the profile gives no exact date for it [5]. In summer 2016 she made the definitive move to the senior squad [5].

The club record since 2019

The club calls 2019 the turning point of her career, the year she started the Champions League final and also played at the World Cup [1]. In 2021 she was named player of the match in the final in Gothenburg, which Barcelona won [1].

Barcelona has won the Women's Champions League four times, in 2020/21, 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2025/26 [5]. She was named the competition's Player of the Season for 2022/23 [5].

The numbers are clearest in a February 2025 club article. By then she had made 300 official appearances for Barcelona. She had scored 105 goals and won 24 trophies with the club [6]. The same article ranks her eighth in the club's history for appearances [6].

Contract to 2028 and what she says next

In September 2024 the club announced a renewal running until 30 June 2028 [7]. At that point she had played 275 matches for Barça and scored 96 official goals. She was the club's all-time top scorer in the Champions League, with 22 goals, level with Alexia Putellas [7].

In an interview published a week later, under the headline "I dream about continuing to make history with Barça", the article says the deal leaves plenty to achieve at the club [8]. She described her drive in similar terms: "the day it is not there then I will no longer be the player I am" [8]. Asked about Johan Cruyff, she said she never met him but knows how much he meant to football and to Barça [8]. The interview does not mention her coach, Jonatan Giráldez, so this page does not describe their working relationship.

Spain and the national team

Spain's record is harder to pin down. FotMob's career table for the national team, covering November 2017 to October 2026, shows 89 appearances and 32 goals [10]. That is a database count. It is not a federation figure. The club profile gives no cap total.

At the 2023/24 Nations League she played all eight of Spain's matches, seven of them as a starter, and scored four goals [9] [5]. Two came against Switzerland, one against the Netherlands in the semi-final and one against France in the final, where she scored the opening goal [9]. She was named MVP of the final [9].