Chelsea stars get a shot at Golden Ball history

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No England player has won the Ballon d’Or Feminin since that prestigious prize was introduced in 2018.

Two Lionesses have gone close, with Lucy Bronze and Beth Mead claiming runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2022 respectively.

The exploits of treble-winning Chelsea in 2024-25 suggest that a number of leading lights in west London should be in contention when another Golden Ball is handed out.

Many of those will get the chance to add international honours to their domestic medal collection this summer.

Major tournament

England are heading to another major tournament looking to defend the continental crown that they claimed at Wembley Stadium back in 2022.

It comes as no surprise, given the talent at Sarina Wiegman’s disposal, to see the Lionesses figuring prominently in football betting odds.

World champions Spain may be slight favourites to cement their dominance at the top of the global game, but Women’s Euros odds have England priced at 3/1 to go back-to-back in the trophy-lifting department.

If more silverware were to be hoisted aloft, then it would be impossible to ignore the claims of Chelsea stars to the title of best player on the planet.

Bronze may have another tilt at the biggest of billings in her locker, while Millie Bright remains a talismanic leader for club and country.

It is Keira Walsh, though, that allows the lions of Chelsea and England to roar.

The classy midfielder has graced the very top of the game, becoming a Champions League winner at Barcelona, and has made an immediate impact since returning to the WSL.

Bronze has said of her club colleague: “She is one of the best midfielders, if not one of the best players, in the women’s game overall.”

Past snubs in Ballon d’Or Feminin polls have come as a surprise to many.

Bronze added: “It’s easy to go for players who score goals, or captains, or those in the headlines, those who score in the big moments. Players who put in performances week in, week out, can go unnoticed.”

That may have been the case for Walsh, but in many ways it highlights how important she is to any given cause.

Those that sail under the radar often do so because they go about their business with the minimum of fuss.

It is, however, their vital contribution that allows others to flourish.

Walsh has graced European Championship, Champions League, FA Cup and World Cup finals, and nobody reaches that level without having something about them.

Many qualities

If she were to make another in Switzerland, while helping England to ultimate glory, then it would become impossible to ignore her many qualities.

Walsh is unlikely to be the one to get the goals that see the Lionesses to a second Euros success, but it will be her that makes them tick.

History books are there to be rewritten as a collective in 2025, but also on an individual basis.

Key performers at Chelsea have shown that they are ready to rise to that challenge, with there every chance that a Ballon d’Or Feminin duck will be broken when the greats of world football head to Paris on September 22.