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The vote has closed for the 2025 BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year.

Aitana Bonmati, Hannah Hampton, Mariona Caldentey, Alessia Russo, and Patri Guijarro are the only five players on the shortlist.

The award will be presented for the 11th year, having first been given in 2015.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 25 via BBC World Service and the BBC Sport website and app at 9:00 GMT on Friday, October 31.

A panel of experts, which included coaches, players, administrators, journalists, and other stakeholders, chose the five winners.

Aitana Bonmati has had a very productive year. She won three women’s Ballons d’Or titles, won a domestic treble, and advanced to the Euro 2025 final as the first woman to do so.

Her pedigree is obvious, as are her numerous awards won and awards won. She has won five Spanish Super Cups, three league titles, and three European crowns.

It was a remarkable campaign despite Barcelona’s Champions League defeat to Arsenal and her remarkable recovery from a bout of viral meningitis shortly before the start of the competition.

Spain made history by reaching the final for the first time after defeating Germany in the Euros semi-final through the creative playmaker.

She also received the title of Champions League player of the year from Uefa, contributing nine goals to their 4-1 semi-final victory over Chelsea.

After assisting England to win Euro 2025, Hannah Hampton was honored as the best female goalkeeper in the world at the 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony.

Chelsea won the title last year and finished the season with an outstanding unbeaten Women’s Super League record.

Hampton has taken up the position of Mary Earps’ number one in England. Before her international retirement, she frequently surpassed Earps and has demonstrated her worth to Sarina Wiegman’s side.

She saved two penalties in their quarter-final victory over Sweden and saved another two when Spain defeated Spain in the final.

Along with Phallon Tullis-Joyce from Manchester United, she also had the WSL golden glove with her 13 league victories for Chelsea.

She has already won two World Cup titles, two FA Cup titles, two League Cup titles, two European Championships, and reached a World Cup final at the age of 24.

Mariona Caldentey helped Arsenal win a second Champions League title with her arrival last summer.

She gave an already strong squad a creative we and cutting edge.

She was named the WSL’s player of the year after moving from Barcelona because of how impressive her performances were.

She also made history for her country when Spain defeated England in the Euro 2025 final, but she didn’t win the trophy because of it.

Caldentey was named in Uefa’s Champions League and the Professional Football Association’s teams of the year in addition to winning the Ballon d’Or.

Age: 26 Country: England

Alessia Russo made history with Arsenal by guiding England to their European Championship crown while becoming the first British team to win the Women’s Champions League since 2008 under the leadership of the Gunners.

She scored in the Euro 2025 final and found her groove with her club, where she excelled all season long in front of goal and off the ball.

The forward won the Football Writers’ Association’s women’s football player of the year award last year.

She and Khadija Shaw shared the Golden Boot, both of whom were the women’s super league’s (WSL) top scorers.

Russo added two assists and 12 WSL goals for Arsenal.

She was also named in the Professional Footballers’ Association and the Uefa Champions League teams of the year and nominated for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.

It is obvious why Patri Guijarro’s descriptions frequently contain the phrase “unsung hero.”

The midfielder can occasionally fly under the radar because of his involvement with Barcelona’s star-studded sides and Spain.

However, her presence as the backbone for her teams makes up for what she lacks in the goals and assist statistics, which also allows the rest to shine.

She won a domestic treble with Barcelona despite losing this year’s Champions League final to her club and losing this year’s Euro 2025 final to her country.

The 27-year-old sets the pace by steadying her team from the midfield, reversing possession and making attacking moves.

Although her work may not always be the most glamorous, it is consistently tenacious, and a key component of her sides’ makeup.

She has won three Champions League titles, six league titles, six Copas de la Reina, and four Spanish Super Cups. Additionally, she won the tournament against Uefa’s Euro 2025 team.

Four defeats in a row, fourth in the Premier League table and four points behind leaders Arsenal. Something has gone wrong at Liverpool.

For a team that cantered to the league title last season, Liverpool suddenly look vulnerable at the back, lethargic in midfield and toothless in attack.

To make matters worse, Arne Slot – after spending almost £450m on new talent – doesn’t seem to know his best starting XI.

In Sunday’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester United at Anfield, summer signings Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong – signed for a combined £214.5m – all started on the bench.

“Slot has a dilemma at the moment about how he fits these players in,” former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock said on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club.

“It’s not always the price tag of a player, or the name of a player, that suits a team. We are seeing that with Thomas Tuchel at England.”

Mohamed Salah has been Liverpool’s talisman for the past eight seasons.

But, after scoring 29 goals in 38 league games last season, the winger has not been firing on all cylinders so far this term.

Salah has not scored in the Premier League since 14 September when he netted a stoppage-time penalty to earn a 1-0 win over Burnley, while he has not scored from open play in the league since the Reds’ opening game against Bournemouth.

It is the first time he has gone seven consecutive Premier League games without scoring a non-penalty goal since joining the Reds back in 2017.

The 33-year-old’s lack of form was summed up on Sunday when he skewed a golden opportunity wide in front of the Kop as Liverpool were chasing an equaliser.

Salah seems to be lacking confidence when it comes to taking on defenders. Known for his rapid attacking runs, the Egyptian isn’t driving fearlessly at defences the way he used to.

Slow build-up play isn’t helping Salah, who thrives when attacking at speed and prefers to face defenders head-on, rather than with his back to goal.

Premier League great Wayne Rooney has questioned Salah’s recent work ethic and, without contributing in front of goal, more scrutiny has been placed on his reluctance to track back and help out in defence.

As a proven Premier League goalscorer and with a British record £125m price tag, expectations were high, and so was the intrigue when Liverpool signed Alexander Isak.

Contrary to most expectations, it has not been an easy ride for the Sweden international since his arrival on Merseyside.

After a drawn-out transfer saga between Newcastle and Liverpool, Isak missed out on pre-season preparation and his lack of match sharpness has been clear. He has come out of his first seven games for Liverpool without a goal to his name.

Fellow summer recruit Ekitike hit the ground running by scoring five in his first eight games.

But opportunities for the Frenchman have dried up since he was sent off for removing his shirt after scoring a late winner against Southampton in the Carabao Cup – a “stupid” second yellow card, according to Slot.

Since then, Slot has favoured Isak in the number nine role and Ekitike has struggled to make an impact from the bench.

But Isak’s struggles may leave the Liverpool boss with little choice but to revert back to Ekitike.

Against Manchester United, Isak had just 19 touches in his 71 minutes on the pitch. His replacement Federico Chiesa, in comparison, had 23 touches and provided the assist for Liverpool’s leveller.

Wirtz is another big-money summer signing who has not been able to make his mark for Liverpool.

Signed from Bayer Leverkusen in June for a fee that could reach £116m, Wirtz – unlike Isak – enjoyed a full pre-season with the Reds.

But the attacking midfielder has not scored yet in a Liverpool jersey, while his only assist came in their Community Shield defeat by Crystal Palace.

During a season where he scored 10 goals and created 14 more in the German Bundesliga last term, the 22-year-old was usually positioned on the left and allowed to drive inside with the ball at his feet by Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso.

But this season Slot has employed Wirtz in a more central role behind the strikers.

This change seems to have disrupted the stability of a midfield made up of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, who started 22 Premier League games together as Liverpool won the title.

With Wirtz perhaps struggling to adapt to the intensity of off-the-ball demands in the Premier League, Slot has reverted to his established midfield trio, leaving his expensive Germany international on the bench.

Yet Liverpool’s attacking sequences have remained slow-moving and lacking in creativity.

Wirtz, in fact, has been creating chances when he has been involved. He has created more chances per 90 minutes than any other player in the division who has played more than 200 minutes.

Given the attacking threat he posed, losing Trent Alexander-Arnold was always going to affect Liverpool when he moved to Real Madrid.

The right-back scored 23 goals and 92 assists in 354 appearances for the club and Slot has struggled to fill the gap.

It was thought Jeremie Frimpong would be first choice, given his £29.5m arrival in the summer, but the Dutchman has been competing for minutes with Conor Bradley and midfielder Szoboszlai.

That right flank has been where Liverpool have been the most exposed, with 38.1% of attacks coming down that third.

Frimpong and Bradley are both full-backs who like to push forward, but that means they often leave space behind that is exploited during counter-attacks, while Salah’s lack of involvement in tracking back leaves them even more exposed.

Chelsea’s winner against Liverpool on 4 October was the result of an overload down that side, while it was Szoboszlai who, after dropping into the right-back role, allowed Matheus Cunha to run in behind and earn the corner that led to Manchester United’s winner on Sunday.

“The right-back situation is a mess,” former Premier League striker Chris Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club.

“Szoboszlai has been their best midfielder, so playing him there kills him. And Frimpong, I don’t care what anyone says, how can you spend that money on a right-back who can’t really play there? It’s bonkers.”

Former Reds full-back Warnock said: “Conor Bradley was always going to be first-choice this season.

There have also been changes on the other side of Liverpool’s defensive line, with Andy Robertson demoted to second choice after left-back Milos Kerkez’s £40m arrival from Bournemouth.

Kerkez’s defending has also failed to impress, with the eager Hungarian drawn out of position on countless occasions, leaving centre-back Virgil van Dijk exposed.

Does Robertson deserve another chance? And who is the best fit at right-back?

“Kerkez has not been an upgrade on Andy Robertson and Slot is unsure on what his best XI is,” said Sutton.

With the full-backs struggling, it leaves more work for Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in the centre.

And they too have looked vulnerable, especially against speedy counter-attacks, while balls played in behind have presented problems to Liverpool.

At this stage of 2024-25, Liverpool had let in just three goals in the Premier League. That number has rocketed to 11 this time around, which is five more than promoted Sunderland have conceded.

Liverpool have also managed just two clean sheets so far this term and set-pieces have become a major worry for Slot’s men.

They have let in five goals from dead-ball situations, with only struggling Nottingham Forest (six), Leeds United (six) and West Ham (eight) surpassing the Reds.

Individual mistakes have been costly too. Konate has looked unconvincing with the ball at his feet and was at fault for both Bournemouth goals in their season opener, while Van Dijk was drawn well out of position as United scored their first goal on Sunday.

After making a century of appearances for his country during the most recent international break, Ben Davies claims to have Gareth Bale’s Wales cap record in his sights.

When leading his team in their 4-2 World Cup qualifying defeat to Belgium on October 13th, the 32-year-old defender became the fourth male player to surpass 100 caps for Wales, joining him as the fourth after Bale, Wayne Hennessey, and Chris Gunter.

However, he now hopes to surpass former Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Bale’s men’s record, which included 111 caps before retiring from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Davies, who was born in Wales, acknowledged that he had always targets in mind.

He said, “The first step was to get a cap, then you start looking up and seeing what’s in front of you.”

“I started to feel a little more established around the 15 to 20 mark, and then I had the 50 one in my sights for a while.”

Your goals advance at a constant rate. You always have that 100 one in line, so I’d assume the next step is to try to reach 112.

The Premier League veteran, who made his Wales debut in 2012, continued, however:

Under Craig Bellamy, Davies has played a crucial role for Wales, and he is the only player to have featured in all 14 of the current national head coaches’ games.

The left-back believes Wales are blessed to have his former team-mate, who was also a member of their international team.

The standards he sets are what make the difference. When you talk about intimidating people in the dressing room, “he was undoubtedly one,” Davis said of Bellamy as a player.

You’d expect him to be on your case, you’d have to work hard, and you’d have to arrive on time, because he would let you know if you weren’t.

Bellamy, who Davies now manages under, is one of the best captains he has ever had.

You knew the heights you had to reach despite the intense and difficult conditions. As a coach, I had no expectations for him, and he has probably lived up to my expectations. He has performed exceptionally well so far.

Davies hasn’t appeared in a single competitive minute for Spurs this season despite his significance on the international stage.

Additionally, he suffered a hamstring injury that forced him off the field against Belgium on the night he earned his 100th Wales cap.

The Swansea City academy graduate, whose contract with the north London side expires in the summer, believes he still has a chance at Spurs.

According to Davies, “It’s a part of football.”

“I’ve been here for 11 years, and this is my first time playing a lot of games,” I said. Thus, the run at such a prestigious club is not bad.

In the world of football, “things change a lot quickly. Every player wants to play games, but it’s not ideal, and it’s not where I want to be.