IRELAND’S KATIE MCCABE was recognised as one of world football’s elite on Wednesday evening as she was nominated for the 2023 Ballon d’Or Féminin.
McCabe’s recognition follows an outstanding 12 months in which she was integral to Ireland’s World Cup qualification as well as consistently starring for Arsenal in the Women’s Super League.
The Dubliner becomes the first Irish woman to be nominated for Ballon d’Or Féminin, which was first presented in 2018. She is one of 30 nominees on a star-studded list, with the winner set to be announced at a ceremony in Paris on 30 October.
There will be a new name on the trophy this year with previous winners Ada Hegerberg (2018), Megan Rapinoe (2019) and Alexia Putellas (2021, 2022) not in contention.
Aitana Bonmati, who won the Uefa Women’s Player of the Year award last week, is one of four Spanish World Cup winners alongside Olga Carmona, Salma Paralluelo and Alba Redondo, while Patricia Guijarro and Mapi Leon — both of whom refused to play at the tournament under coach Jorge Vilda — are also nominated.
Beaten World Cup finalists England have four nominees in Millie Bright, Rachel Daly, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway.
The Ballon d’Or, which is widely regarded as the sport’s pre-eminent individual award, is voted on by a panel of journalists drawn from across the footballing world.
In 2022, 100 journalists from the top 100 countries in the Fifa rankings voted for the men’s prize, with 50 journalists voting for the women’s prize. Paul Kelly held the Irish vote for the men’s prize, won comfortably by Karim Benzema, while Marie Crowe held the vote for the women’s prize, won for a second successive year by Spain’s Putellas.
No Republic of Ireland player has received a vote for the men’s award since Roy Keane in 2000, while George Best in 1968 is the only player from the island of Ireland to ever win the prize.
– Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy and AFP
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