WHY BARCELONA FORWARD EWA PAJOR IS A SERIOUS CONTENDER FOR THIS YEAR’S BALLON D’OR
Polish-born Ewa Pajor is continuing to demonstrate why she should once again be considered for the Ballon d’Or.
Despite scoring 44 goals in 47 matches last season, the Barcelona goal machine ranked 10th in the 2025 contest, which was won by her teammate, Aitana Bonmatí.
A closer look at the latest Ewa Pajor stats, however, suggests the ruthless forward has an even stronger case for football’s most prestigious individual honour this time around.
HOW IS THE BALLON D’OR DECIDED?
The Ballon d’Or isn’t as simple as being judged on who’s scored the most goals, or who’s won the most trophies.
Instead, it’s a more complex (and often slightly controversial) process.
French journalists choose a shortlist of 30 players. Then, one journalist from each of the top 100 FIFA-ranked nations ranks their top ten players from the list, with points assigned based on position: 15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, then 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 for tenth.
The player with the most points wins, with ties broken by the number of first-place votes, then second-place votes, and so on.
As part of their ranking process, the journalists are asked to consider individual performance, team achievements, and fair play, with greater weight given to how decisive a player was and how much they contributed to their team’s success.
EWA PAJOR STATS
Pajor has continued her streak of essentially averaging a goal a game; her tally for the 25/26 season currently stands at 22 in 25 matches, 15 of which have been in La Liga.
She’s also contributed 4 goals to Barcelona’s UEFA Women’s Champions League campaign, including a brace in their 7-1 demolition of FC Bayern Munchen Ladies in October.
But her influence within the Barcelona squad goes far beyond her impressive ability to find the back of the net. She’s also assisted 7 more goals, and has racked up over 30 hours of playing time, demonstrating how invaluable she is within the Catalan club’s setup.
So, given that the ranking criteria include both individual performance and team success, we’d certainly expect to see Ewa on that initial list of 30 candidates.
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