Sam Kerr has been recognised as one of the best players in the world, being nominated for the Ballon d’Or after a sensational 2021. The Ballon d’Or is awarded to the best player for the calendar year, with the Men’s award first awarded in 1956.

The Women’s award has only been introduced recently in 2018 with Norway’s Ada Hegerberg winning the Inaugural Ballon d'Or Féminin and Megan Rapinoe winning in 2019, there was no award in 2020 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. 

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Kerr finished the season as the WSL golden boot winner with 28 goals and fired Chelsea to a WSL and League cup double and the Champions League final. In the 19 WSL matches in 2021 so far Kerr has managed an incredible return, bagging 19 goals and 10 assists. 

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Kerr was also instrumental in the Matilda's Olympic campaign, scoring 6 goals and getting Australia into the Semi-Finals in Tokyo. Sam is amongst 20 other Women nominated for the award, including Ellen White, Vivianne Miedema, and fellow Chelsea forward Pernille Harder. 

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Sam now sits among an elite group of Australian footballers to be nominated for the award, including the likes of; Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill & Massimo Luongo. 

The voting process will now begin with select journalists, national team coaches, and captains being asked to name their top 5 players. The winners will be announced on the 29th of November.