Sam Kerr snubbed for women’s Ballon d’Or

After a sensational season in which she finished as top scorer in England’s Women’s Super League, Sam Kerr has missed out on football’s highest honour.

Sam Kerr finished third in the voting for the women’s Ballon d’Or. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Despite a sensational season in which she finished as the top scorer in England’s Women’s Super League, Sam Kerr has missed out on the women’s Ballon d’Or award with a third-place finish as Spaniard Alexia Putellas claimed the coveted prize.

Kerr, who scored a whopping 21 goals in the WSL for Chelsea, played a key role for the Blues as they won both the Super League and the League Cup.

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The 28-year-old also captained the Matildas at the Tokyo Olympics and scored six goals as Tony Gustavsson’s side finished fourth.

The West Australian hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down just yet for Chelsea either, scoring 13 goals in 12 games this season.

But it ultimately wasn’t enough as the Australian star finished behind Putellas and fellow Spaniard Jennifer Hermoso in the voting.

On the podium! 🥉@SamKerr1 takes bronze in the #BallonDor!

What an achievement! 👏 pic.twitter.com/q8X3lONBtB

— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) November 29, 2021

We're so proud of you, Sam! 💚💛@samkerr1 takes bronze in the #BallonDor! pic.twitter.com/n2MuXZscXb

— CommBank Matildas (@TheMatildas) November 29, 2021

Putellas, who plays for Barcelona, had a season to remember herself.

She found the back of the net 26 times in 42 appearances for the Spanish powerhouse, including a goal against Kerr’s Chelsea in the women’s Champions League final.

Putellas was also named UEFA’s women’s player of the year in August.

The Spaniard’s win makes her the third woman in history to win the Ballon d’Or after Norwegian star Aga Hegerbeg won the inaugural edition in 2018 and was followed by US forward Megan Rapinoe in 2019.

Kerr’s podium placement was also her best yet, having finished fifth and seventh in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Lionel Messi took home the men’s Ballon d’Or for a record seventh time, beating out Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski to the award.

Messi played a starring role in helping Argentina win the Copa America for the first time in 28 years as well as lifting a struggling Barcelona side to third in La Liga.

Lewandowski was only 33 votes behind Messi but comfortably ahead of Chelsea midfielder Jorginho, who came third.