Temwa Chawinga, Ewa Pajor, Alexia Putellas, Alessia Russo and Khadija “Bunny” Shaw are the five players on the shortlist for BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year 2026, and fans around the world now decide the winner. Voting is open until 09:00 GMT on Wednesday, 18 November. For the first time in the award’s 12-year history, the winner will be revealed during BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December, as well as on the BBC World Service and the BBC Sport website and app.
Coaches, journalists and former professionals picked the shortlist based on performances between September 2025 and September 2026. None of the five has won the award before, so there will be a first-time winner in its 12th edition. Chelsea and England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton won in 2025.
The contenders: goals, trophies and firsts
- Temwa Chawinga (Malawi, Kansas City Current, 28) scored 15 goals in the 2025 NWSL season as Kansas City won the Shield as the league’s best regular-season team. She won the Golden Boot for a second year in a row and became the first player named NWSL MVP in back-to-back seasons. At the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations she scored against Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana and Algeria and won the Golden Boot with five goals. Playing alongside her sister Tabitha, she took Malawi to their first Wafcon final and their first Women’s World Cup qualification.
- Ewa Pajor (Poland, Barcelona, 29) scored Barcelona’s first two goals in their 4-0 Champions League final win over Lyon and finished as the competition’s top scorer. It was her first European title after five final defeats, four with Wolfsburg and one with Barcelona. She added 16 goals and five assists in 23 Liga F games as Barcelona won the domestic treble.
- Alexia Putellas (Spain, London City Lionesses, 32) left Barcelona after 14 years, having won four major trophies in her final season there. She had 14 goal contributions in 11 Champions League appearances during that campaign. She scored three goals against Sweden in the Nations League semi-finals and was player of the finals as Spain beat Germany 3-0 to keep the title. Last month she won a record-equalling third Ballon d’Or.
- Alessia Russo (England, Arsenal, 27) scored 24 goals and made eight assists in all competitions, including 13 WSL goals, the second-highest total in the league. She helped Arsenal win the first Women’s Champions Cup with a 3-2 extra-time victory over Corinthians. In April she scored her 30th goal for England, which put her in the Lionesses’ all-time top 10.
- Khadija “Bunny” Shaw (Jamaica, Manchester City, 29) scored 21 goals in 22 WSL games as City won the title. She won a record third consecutive WSL Golden Boot and was named WSL Player of the Season. She also scored the opening goal in the FA Cup final win over Brighton at Wembley, and in December 2025 she became the first player in the history of City’s professional women’s team to reach 100 goals.
Where the vote could be won and lost
The award is decided by a global public vote, so a large online following matters as much as the numbers. That is why this year’s race is so open.
Putellas has the strongest profile. A third Ballon d’Or puts her level with the best in the history of that award, yet she has never won this BBC prize. She was shortlisted in 2021 and 2022 and lost to Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead. Her move to London City Lionesses in July 2026 also gives her a new audience in England. She said the club’s “women-only identity and ambition” were important reasons for joining.
Pajor and Putellas will split support from Barcelona fans, which could help Shaw and Russo. Shaw has the best domestic record of the group: a league title, a cup final goal and a Golden Boot hat-trick. If she wins, she will be the first Manchester City player to take the award. Russo has the biggest home audience. England players won four times between 2018 and 2023, and Hampton’s win last year suggests the Lionesses’ fanbase is still a strong voting bloc.
Chawinga is the outsider, but her case may be the most remarkable. Back-to-back MVP awards in the NWSL, a continental Golden Boot and taking a nation ranked outside the global elite to its first World Cup make up a season with few equals. Her chances depend on Malawi and the wider African audience turning out in large numbers.
Historical context and what it means
The BBC World Service launched the award in 2015. Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala won the first edition, and Zambia’s Barbra Banda won in 2024, which showed the vote can reward players from outside Europe’s established powers. Lucy Bronze and Ada Hegerberg are the only two-time winners. Lyon players won four years in a row between 2017 and 2020.
Moving the announcement to Sports Personality of the Year is the most significant change in the award’s history. It puts the women’s game on one of British sport’s biggest nights of television and gives the winner exposure the prize has not had before.
The shortlist covers five nations, three leagues and three continents, which shows how widely elite talent is now spread in women’s football. Whoever wins, the award will have a first-time champion.
Ahmad Ali, Sports Editor
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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