Super Falcons striker Asisat Oshoala has been nominated for the 2022 women’s Ballon d’Or following her stellar season with Barcelona Femini in the Spanish League.
Oshoala scored 20 goals in just 19 games to share the top scorer award with Geyse Ferreira who played for Madrid CFF last season but is now a teammate of Oshoala.
The 27-year-old’s game time was limited last season because of injury but she showed her quality in front of goal whenever she wasn’t injured as Barcelona retained their League title.
The other Ballon d’Or nominees are Marie-Antoinette Katoto (PSG), Millie Bright (Chelsea), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Ada Hegerberg (Lyon), Selma Bacha (Lyon), Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona), Vivianna Miedema (Arsenal), Lucy Bronze (Barcelona), Sam Kerr (Chelsea), Christiane Endler (Lyon), Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg), Kadidatou Diani (PSG), Catarina Macario (Lyon), Alexia Putellas (Barcelona), Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg), Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona), Wendie Renard (Lyon), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave) and Beth Mead (Arsenal).
Lyon’s Ada Hegerberg won the maiden women’s Ballon d’Or back in 2018 while United States Women’s national team star Megan Rapinoe won the honours in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 ceremony to be cancelled.
The award resumed last year with Oshoala’s teammate in Barcelona Alexia Putellas becoming the third female player to win the prize.
The Ballon d’Or 2022 ceremony will take place on October 17, 2022, at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
Last month in Rabat, Oshoala was named the African Player of the Year for a record fifth time, adding to her previous wins in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019.
The former FC Robo and Rivers Angels striker was part of the Super Falcons side that qualified for the 2023 FIFA women’s World Cup although her tournament was cut short by an injury she sustained against South Africa in Nigeria’s opening group game.