Aitana Bonmatí
Midfielder · FC Barcelona · Spain
About Aitana Bonmatí
Aitana Bonmatí is the Barcelona and Spain midfielder who, as of 2026, is the only woman to have won the Ballon d'Or Féminin three times: in 2023, 2024 and 2025. A two-footed playmaker with close control and a relentless press, she has spent her whole senior career at the club she supported as a child.
Aitana Bonmatí's story
Ribes Roots
Aitana was born in Vilanova i la Geltrú on 18 January 1998 and raised in nearby Sant Pere de Ribes. Her parents are both Catalan language and literature teachers, and they filled the house with books. She first played in the school playground, moved on to CD Ribes, and was recruited to Barcelona's academy at 13.
Masia to Senior
Her first-team debut came in March 2016, in a Copa de la Reina quarter-final against Real Sociedad. Spain's youth sides were already winning with her in the team: European under-17 champions in 2015 and under-19 champions in 2017. Her first senior cap came off the bench against Austria in November 2017.
Europe's Engine
She was player of the match when Chelsea were crushed 4-0 in the 2021 Champions League final. She won that award again in 2024, opening the scoring in a 2-0 win over Lyon at San Mamés. UEFA named her the competition's Player of the Season three years running, from 2022-23 to 2024-25.
The Summit
Spain's 2023 World Cup triumph brought her the Golden Ball. At Euro 2025 she recovered from viral meningitis, started on the bench, then scored the extra-time semi-final winner against Germany and was named Player of the Tournament. England won the final on penalties. On 22 September 2025 in Paris, she received the Ballon d'Or Féminin from Andrés Iniesta, with Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey second.
Break and Return
On 30 November 2025, two days before Spain's Nations League final second leg, she broke her left fibula in a training collision. Surgery followed on 2 December. She was fit again by May 2026, came on in the 72nd minute of the 4-0 Champions League final win over Lyon in Oslo on 23 May, then scored in a 6-1 World Cup qualifying win in Iceland on 9 June.
Did you know?
- 🕑 Barcelona announced her contract renewal at 14:14 on 16 September 2024, a nod to her number 14 shirt. The deal runs to 30 June 2028.
- 🎓 She completed a degree in physical activity and sport science at Ramon Llull University in 2021. In September 2022 she began a master's in sport management at the Johan Cruyff Institute.
- 👪 Her parents, Rosa Bonmatí and Vicent Conca, campaigned for Spanish families to be allowed to put the mother's surname first. After the law changed in 2000, she became one of the first generation of Spaniards to carry her mother's surname first.
- 📚 Her autobiography, 'Aitana Bonmatí: Totes unides fem força!', was published in Catalan in 2022 with a foreword by Xavi Hernández. An expanded edition followed in 2024.
- 🏅 In 2024 she became the first footballer to win the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award.
- 🌍 She has been a UNHCR supporter since 2022 and has trained with AE Ramassà, a Catalan women's team for refugee and newly arrived women. In February 2026 she was patron of the 20th Relats Solidaris de l'Esport, which raised money for Ramassà.
- 🎸 Away from football she plays the guitar, reads historical fiction and listens to Catalan and English-language pop.
- 🤝 She and Sergi Roberto were the Barça Foundation's ambassadors for 2022-23, taking over from Alexia Putellas and Gerard Piqué. Her foundation work includes projects with people with Down syndrome.
- 🥇 She won The Best FIFA Women's Player award three years running, in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Honours
- Liga F x7: FC Barcelona (2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26)
- Copa de la Reina x8: FC Barcelona (2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026)
- Supercopa de España x5: FC Barcelona (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
- UEFA Women's Champions League x4: FC Barcelona (2021, 2023, 2024, 2026)
- FIFA Women's World Cup: Spain (2023)
- UEFA Women's Nations League x2: Spain (2024, 2025)
- Ballon d'Or Féminin x3: 2023, 2024, 2025
- The Best FIFA Women's Player x3: 2023, 2024, 2025
- UEFA Women's Player of the Year: 2022-23
- Women's World Cup Golden Ball: 2023
- Women's Euro Player of the Tournament: 2025
- UEFA Women's Champions League Player of the Season x3: 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25
- Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: 2024
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