Aitana Bonmati is on another planet! Spain star wins Women's World Cup Golden Ball with Mary Earps clinching Golden Glove and Japan's Hinata Miyazawa securing Golden Boot

What a season it has been for Barcelona midfielder Bonmati. After helping to deliver Liga F and Champions League glory at club level in 2022-23, she has now gone on to inspire a World Cup triumph. The classy 25-year-old was constantly pulling the strings for Spain in Australia and New Zealand, with the Catalan native able to make the game look so easy.

She appeared to be playing a different sport to her international rivals at times, with three goals recorded from the middle of the park. The first of those came in a group stage opener against Costa Rica, before then bagging a brace in a 5-1 demolition of Switzerland in the last 16. Bonmati starred for Spain throughout and must now be considered a leading contender for the 2023 Ballon d’Or Feminin.

Teenage forward Salma Paralluelo was trusted with leading the line for Spain in their final showdown with England. The 19-year-old embraced the pressure being lumped onto her young shoulders as she posed the Lionesses all kinds of problems with her movement and pacey runs in behind. The Barcelona starlet was rightly recognised as the hottest prospect at the Women’s World Cup, as she took the Best Young Player award, with crucial late goals being recorded in quarter-final and semi-final clashes with the Netherlands and Sweden respectively.

Japan enjoyed a memorable run to the quarter-finals, having stunned eventual champions Spain 4-0 at one stage to top their group. Miyazawa was the undoubted star of the show for the Asian heavyweights as she netted five times in total. Two of those efforts came in an opening 5-0 win over Zambia, with another brace recorded in the aforementioned giant-killing of Spain. The 23-year-old midfielder, who plays her club football for Mynavi Sendai, was also on target in a 3-1 victory over Norway in the last-16 – allowing her to walk away with the top-scorer prize.

It was not to be for England as they fell narrowly short in a bid to secure a historic global crown, but the Lionesses can be extremely proud of their efforts. The reigning European Champions suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Spain in the Women’s World Cup final, but Manchester United goalkeeper Earps kept them in that contest when saving a second-half penalty. She landed the Golden Glove on the back of keeping three clean sheets in the tournament and being a reliable last line of defence for England.