Barcelona superstar Alexia Putellas has retained her Best FIFA Women’s Player title at the 2022 ceremony, having previously won it in 2021.
Putellas is also the reigning back-to-back Ballon d’Or winner for 2021 and 2022 and her latest honour only further underlines her status as the best female player on the planet.
What is incredible that is the Spaniard hasn’t played since suffering an ACL injury in June.
That ended her dreams of leading Spain to victory at a major international tournament for the first time, but her performances for Barcelona up to that point had already left an enormous mark on 2022.
Barcelona enjoyed a perfect season in Spain in 2021/22, winning every single game they played. Collectively, the team scored 159 goals and conceded only 11, while Putellas enjoyed her best individual campaign ever by finding the net 34 times in all competitions.
The Catalans also won the Copa de la Reina and the Supercopa de Espana Femenina at a canter to complete a domestic treble.
They were only one game away from a quadruple, reaching a second successive Champions League final but falling to Lyon in a clash of true titans.
Putellas beat Beth Mead to the FIFA gong, having also pipped the England forward to the Ballon d’Or in recent months, as well as finishing ahead of resurgent American star Alex Morgan.
The 29-year-old midfielder stepped up her ACL recovery in December, beginning to run on grass at Barcelona’s training complex and raising the possibility that she will be fully fit before the end of the season.
However, her participation at the 2023 World Cup remains in doubt regardless due to her support for the 15 players refusing to be called up by current Spain coach Jorge Vilda.
