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Cantore one of 30 nominees for prestigious global award
Washington, D.C. (08/07/2025) – The Washington Spirit’s newest forward Sofia Cantore has been named a nominee for the 2025 Ballon d’Or, an annual award recognizing the best women’s soccer player in the world, France Football announced today.
At 25 years old, Cantore makes her first appearance on the Ballon d’Or shortlist and is nominated alongside 29 other players across the globe for the honor. The forward is the Spirit’s third different nominee for the award after Trinity Rodman was nominated in 2024 and 2022 and Rose Lavelle in 2019.
Cantore signed with the Spirit in June, transferring from Juventus FC of Italy’s Serie A and becoming the first Italian player in NWSL history. Across the past eight seasons, Cantore appeared in over 120 league matches, tallying over 40 goals and 20 assists in the process. The standout forward also led Juventus in scoring at the 2024-25 UEFA Women’s Champions League with two goals in group play.
At the international level, Cantore is a mainstay of the Italy roster. Approaching her 50th appearance for the senior team, Cantore has tallied five goals for Le Azzurre and recently started every match of the 2025 UEFA Women’s Championship for the side. In Italy’s quarterfinal win, Cantore dished out two assists to help her home country advance to the tournament’s semifinal round for the first time in 28 years.
The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony will be held on Monday, September 22 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
This weekend, the Spirit will hit the road to take on Gotham FC in the NWSL’s inaugural Rivalry Weekend, kicking off at noon EDT on Saturday, August 9 on ESPN. Washington will return to Audi Field on Friday, August 15 at 8 p.m. EDT to take on Racing Louisville FC. Tickets are available here.
About The Washington Spirit
The Washington Spirit is the premier professional women’s soccer team based in Washington, D.C. and plays at Audi Field in Buzzard Point. The Spirit was founded on November 21, 2012 and is an inaugural member of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) the fastest growing sports league in the US. The club is home to some of the best players in the world who have won championships for both club and country. For more information about the Spirit, visit WashingtonSpirit.com and follow the club on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
About The Ballon d’Or Féminin
The Ballon d’Or Féminin, which translates to ‘Women’s Golden Ball,’ is the premier football award presented to the top women’s player each year by French news magazine France Football. Since the award’s inception in 2018, the Ballon d’Or Féminin has been presented six times: to OL Lyonnes’ Ada Hegerberg in 2018, Seattle Reign FC’s Megan Rapinoe in 2019, FC Barcelona Femení’s Alexis Putellas in 2021 and 2022 and Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmatí in 2023 and 2024.
