Katie McCabe, Ballon d'Or nominee. How do you like the sound of that? McCabe made history today by becoming the first Irish woman to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or.
The Kilnamanagh star showed her genius to the world in Australia this summer. Her outstanding season both for club and country has been recognised tonight with a nomination that rightly places her amongst the best footballers on this planet.
It's not the first time McCabe has made history for her country. She, of course, was the first Irish woman to score a goal at the World Cup.
Katie McCabe has scored Ireland's first ever World Cup goal!
Knowing her, she probably meant it and all 👀 #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/TWXskZuIul— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) July 26, 2023
Katie McCabe responds to Ballon d'Or nomination
McCabe was in Sweden today as Arsenal launched their Champions League campaign against Linkoping with a 3-0 win. She spoke to Tim Stillman of Arseblog about her satisfaction for receiving the nomination.
It’s a first for an Irish women’s player so it’s a really nice accolade on a personal level but you can never achieve those things without your teammates. For me it is always about the team and how we compete and win trophies together, that is why I play a team sport. I love picking up trophies with my teammates but it is always nice to be nominated for a Ballon D’Or- though I think it’s the first time I have said that!
There will be a new winner of the award this year as twice-reigning Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas is not nominated after a year riddled by injury. Spain's Aitana Bonmati is the presumptive favourite of the award. The winner will be announced on 30 October.
Here are a list of the thirty nominees for the award:
The list of Ballon d'Or nominees
- Aitana Bonmati (Spain)
- Millie Bright (England)
- Linda Caicedo (Colombia
- Olga Carmona (Spain)
- Rachel Daly (England)
- Debinha (Brazil)
- Kadidiatou Diani (France)
- Mary Earps (England)
- Patricia Guijarro (Spain)
- Yui Hasegawa (Japan)
- Amanda Ilestedt (Sweden)
- Sam Kerr (Australia)
- Mapi Leon (Spain)
- Katie McCabe (Republic of Ireland)
- Hinata Miyazawa (Japan)
- Lena Oberdorf (Germany)
- Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria)
- Ewa Pajor (Poland)
- Salma Paralluelo (Spain)
- Alexandra Popp (Germany and Wolsburg)
- Hayley Raso (Australia )
- Alba Redondo (Spain)
- Guro Reiten (Norway)
- Wendie Renard (France)
- Fridolina Rolfo (Sweden)
- Jill Roord (Netherlands)
- Khadija Shaw (Jamaica)
- Sophia Smith (United States)
- Georgia Stanway (England)
- Daphne van Domselaar (Netherlands)
SEE ALSO: The Outrageous Talent Of Katie McCabe, And How North London Nurtured It
