Alexia Putellas has won the Ballon d’Or for a third time. Nike has marked the moment with a gold boot whose design draws on her remarkable career.
Four years separated Alexia Putellas’s second and third Ballon d’Or wins. While her Spain teammate Aitana Bonmatí claimed the award three years running from 2023 to 2025, Putellas fought her way back to the top after an ACL injury. Her third triumph brought her level with Bonmatí.
Nike has celebrated the title with a campaign called “Players Have Seasons. Queens Have Eras.” The queen in question is Putellas, known as “La Reina”. Part of the campaign is a gold special edition of the Nike Phantom GX3.
The Golden Nike Phantom GX3 for Alexia Putellas
The forefoot is gold, fading to white towards the heel. The boot also carries Putellas’s No 11 and her personal logo, which combines two 11s with the letter A to form a crown. Inside, a football turns into a cut gemstone beside the words “Greatness Is Crafted”.
Nike marked her first two Ballon d’Or wins, in 2021 and 2022, with specially designed football boots. In early 2026 came “More Than 11”, her first Player Edition and, according to Nike, the first for a female footballer in the Phantom line. With the gold Phantom GX3, Nike now marks her third Ballon d’Or as well.
Alexia Putellas’s Comeback From an ACL Injury
Shortly before Euro 2022, Putellas ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament. She missed the tournament and collected her second Ballon d’Or in October 2022, in the middle of her rehabilitation. She did not return to the pitch until April 2023, and it took longer still to rediscover her best form.
In 2025/26 she won all four trophies on offer with Barcelona: the league, the Copa de la Reina, the Spanish Super Cup and the Champions League. After the 4-0 win over OL Lyonnes in the final in Oslo, she lifted the trophy as captain. With seven goals and seven assists, she was involved in more goals than any other player in the competition, and UEFA named her Player of the Season.
It was her last season at Barcelona. After 14 years there, her contract expired in May 2026, and in July she signed for London City Lionesses.
Putellas herself ties her third Ballon d’Or to her comeback from the ACL injury. Getting back to her best after rehabilitation, she said in Nike’s announcement, felt rewarding. “I am honoured but this time also blessed.”
