Alexa Putelles of Barcelona has been named the best female player in the world at the 2022 Ballon d’Or awards. 

Putellas becomes the first female player in history to win the Women’s Ballon d’Or in consecutive seasons, defeating Arsenal’s Beth Mead and Chelsea’s Sam Kerr.

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Who is Alexia Putellas?

Alexia Putellas Segura, a Spanish professional football player who was born on February 4, 1994, plays as a midfielder for Barcelona in the Primera División, which she captains, and the Spain national team. She is 28 years old. 

Putellas was born in Mollet del Vallès, a municipality in the province of Barcelona, to Jaume Putellas Rota and Elisabet “Eli” Segura Sabaté. Since her childhood, Putellas has been a fan of FC Barcelona.

When she was younger, Putellas would journey with the Penya of Mollet del Vallès to see her father watch Barcelona games at Camp Nou. She and her family would also go to a nearby bar called La Bolera to watch Barcelona games.

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Despite being born into a basketball family, Putellas began playing football at the age of seven in 2001. Her first club was CE Sabadell, where she was enrolled by a family friend who played for the club. Putellas spent a year in FC Barcelona’s youth academy in 2005. Putellas joined RCD Espanyol’s youth teams when she was twelve, and she stayed for four years.

She is known as la reina (the queen), and she is widely regarded as the best contemporary female footballer in the world, as well as one of the best of all time, after winning all major club and individual awards available to a European player by 2022.

Putellas began playing for Barcelona in 2012, having spent the majority of her youth career at Espanyol. She has won one UEFA Women’s Champions League trophy, one Copa de la Reina, six league titles, and seven Copas de la Reina since joining Barcelona.

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She was crucial to Barcelona’s success in the 2020–21 campaign, which saw them capture the continental treble and UEFA Women’s Champions League for the first time in club history. Later, Putellas became the first player to win all three awards in the same year when she won the Best FIFA Women’s Player, Ballon d’Or Féminin, and UEFA Women’s Player of the Year in 2021.

Putellas has success with Spain’s youth national teams on the international level, taking home two UEFA Women’s U-17 Euros in 2010 and 2011, as well as placing second at the 2012 UEFA Women’s U-19 Euro. She made her senior national team debut for Spain in 2012, and since then, she has played for the squad in three of the biggest international tournaments: the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the 2017 UEFA Women’s Euro, and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

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Putellas is now their second-highest scorer all-time after former striker Jennifer Hermoso and has made the second-most appearances for FC Barcelona Femen overall as of 2022.

She has made 100 games for Spain, breaking Marta Torrejón’s previous record of 90 appearances set in 2021.