Steph Catley shortlisted for Ballon d'Or Feminin, Harry Kane among men's nominees

Matildas captain Steph Catley has been shortlisted for the biggest individual honour in women's soccer, nominated among the game's top 30 players for the Ballon d'Or.

The 31-year-old Arsenal defender, a key figure in the London club's Women's Champions League triumph, is the only Australian to feature in the annual awards, with her Matildas teammate Mary Fowler perhaps unlucky to miss out on a nomination.

It is a reward for Catley's enduring excellence at the back for both club and country, as she has filled in as Australia's skipper in the long-term absence of injured captain Sam Kerr.

Alongside fellow Matildas Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross in the Arsenal success story, Catley was excellent in central defence throughout the Gunners' march to triumph in Europe's biggest women's tournament.

She has been nominated alongside six of her clubmates, including Mariona Caldentey, who's considered the most likely candidate to stop Barcelona's brilliant Aitana Bonmati, her Spain teammate, from achieving a hat-trick of triumphs when the winner is announced in Paris on September 22.

The awards ceremony has been moved a month earlier than normal after two straight years of being plonked in the women's international window, meaning many stars could not attend.

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Catley, who's been capped 138 times for her country, is the third Australian woman to be short-listed since the Ballon d'Or Feminin was first introduced in 2018, with Kerr having had five nominations — she finished second in 2023 and third the previous two years — and Hayley Raso also being listed in 2023.

Five of England's European Championship-winning squad have also been nominated for the award, headed by Catley's Arsenal teammates, Leah Williamson, her fellow centre-back, Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo.

Aitana Bonmatí will be trying to win her third straight, while Spain's 2024 men's winner, Rodri, is not nominated this time around.

Four Englishmen have also been nominated for the men's Ballon d'Or — Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Cole Palmer and Declan Rice.

But the overwhelming favourite is Paris St Germain's Ousmane Dembele, one of nine players nominated from the outstanding men's Champions League-winning outfit.

Women's Ballon d'Or nominees: Sandy Baltimore, Barbra Banda, Aitana Bonmati, Lucy Bronze, Klara Buhl, Mariona Caldentey, Sofia Cantore, Steph Catley, Temwa Chawinga, Melchie Dumornay, Emily Fox, Cristiana Girelli, Esther Gonzalez, Caroline Graham Hansen, Hannah Hampton, Pernille Harder, Patri Guijarro, Amanda Gutierres, Lindsey Heaps, Chloe Kelly, Frida Leonhardsen-Maanum, Marta, Clara Mateo, Ewa Pajor, Claudia Pina, Alexia Putellas, Alessia Russo, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Caroline Weir, Leah Williamson.

Men's Ballon d'Or nominees: Ousmane Dembele, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Jude Bellingham, Desire Doue, Denzel Dumfries, Serhou Guirassy, Erling Haaland, Viktor Gyokeres, Achraf Hakimi, Harry Kane, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Robert Lewandowski, Alexis Mac Allister, Lautaro Martinez, Scott McTominay, Kylian Mbappe, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Pedri, Cole Palmer, Michael Olise, Raphinha, Declan Rice, Fabian Ruiz, Lamine Yamal, Florian Wirtz, Vitinha, Vinicius Junior, Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah.

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