The captain of the Republic of Ireland Women's team, Katie McCabe, has been shortlisted for the Women's Ballon d'Or award this year. The Dublin native has become the country's first Ballon d'Or nominee since former Manchester United captain Roy Keane was nominated in 2000.
The Arsenal player joins the likes of Keane, John Giles, George Best, Liam Brady, and other well-known Irish stars in receiving a nomination for her footballing efforts.
McCabe had an excellent year for Arsenal and Ireland. Her excellent form at club level with Arsenal, where she and the team made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League and secured a third-placed finish in the Women's Super League. This form carried over to the FIFA Women's World Cup with the Girls in Green this summer.
Ireland was eventually knocked out of the tournament, but McCabe led by example throughout the summer and scored one of the goals of the tournament against Canada in Ireland's second group game.
Nominated for the 2023 Women’s Ballon d’Or @Katie_McCabe11 @Arsenalwfc @IrelandFootball #ballondor pic.twitter.com/0LUabxGTt8
— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@ballondor) September 6, 2023
Speaking after Arsenal's Champions League qualifying win over Linkoping this week, the Ireland star said, "It’s a first for an Irish women’s player, so it’s a really nice accolade on a personal level. But you can never achieve those things without your teammates. For me, it is always about the team and how we compete and win trophies together. That is why I play a team sport. I love picking up trophies with my teammates, but it is always nice to be nominated for a Ballon D’Or—though I think it’s the first time I have said that!
Thirty players are nominated for the women's award, including Salma Paralluelo, Patricia Guijarro, Aitana Bonmati, Mapi Leon, Alba Redondo, and Olga Carmona, who led Spain to World Cup glory.
The likes of Japan's Hinata Miyazawa, England goalkeeper Mary Earps, and Chelsea and Australian star forward Sam Kerr also received nominations.
The Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place on Monday, October 30
Women's Ballon d'Or nominees
Khadija Shaw (Manchester City)
Mapi Leon (Barcelona)
Mary Earps (Manchester United)
Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona)
Wendie Renard (Lyon)
Katie McCabe (Arsenal)
Jill Roord (Wolfsburg and Manchester City)
Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City)
Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg)
Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona)
Debinha (Kansas City)
Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
Guro Reiten (Chelsea)
Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg)
Patricia Guijarro (Barcelona)
Daphne Van Domselaar (Twente and Aston Villa)
Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg)
Hinata Miyazawa (MyNavi Sendai and Manchester United)
Millie Bright (Chelsea)
Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona)
Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns)
Hayley Raso (Manchester City and Real Madrid)
Amanda Ilestedt (PSG and Arsenal)
Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich)
Olga Ramona (Real Madrid)
Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona)
Rachel Daly (Aston Villa)
Alba Redondo (Levante)
Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid)
Kadidiatou Diani (Lyon)
