Spanish star Alexia Putellas continues her reign as the world’s consensus No. 1 women’s soccer player, taking home the Ballon d’Or for the second consecutive year.

While the midfielder missed out on the Euros after injuring her ACL days before the start of the July tournament, she made the most of the first half of the year with FC Barcelona. She is expected to miss the entire 2022-23 season while recovering from the injury.

“I’m very happy to be back here,” Putellas said in her native Spanish. “I’m pleased. A year ago, I was able to win, and it pushed me to want to be better. Without my teammates this wouldn’t have been possible. I want to thank the team, the staff and the coach as well, and everyone involved with the club.”

Putellas had 18 goals and a league-high 15 assists for Barcelona as she led the team to its third-straight Primera División title.

The 28-year-old helped lead Barcelona to a perfect season, winning all 30 of their games.

She has played for the club since 2012, making 271 appearances and scoring 117 goals. Putellas has appeared in the second most matches in club history, behind Melanie Serrano, and is also second on the club’s all-time scoring list, behind Jennifer Hermoso.

In August, she became the first player to win back-to-back UEFA Women’s Player of the Year awards. She also soared to No. 1 in the FIFA 23 ratings after failing to crack the top 10 in the previous two versions of the game.

The speech of Alexia Putellas, the back-to-back Women's Ballon d'Or winner 💬#ballondor pic.twitter.com/o11kze5yoZ

— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) October 17, 2022

England’s Beth Mead finished second among the 20 nominees for the Ballon d’Or, followed by Australia’s Sam Kerr and Germany’s Lena Oberdorf.

As for the three American nominees, Catarina Macario placed ninth, Alex Morgan came in 13th and Trinity Rodman finished 18th.

Rodman was the youngest player on the nomination list, at 20 years old.

This is the fourth year of the award, as Norway’s Ada Hegerberg won the inaugural award in 2018, followed by Megan Rapinoe in 2019. The award was not given in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2022 women’s Ballon d’Or complete ranking! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/QJLVZW6XjG

— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) October 17, 2022

The 2025 NCAA volleyball season is down to four top teams, as the Division I national championship tournament's Final Four takes the court in Kansas City on Thursday night.

No. 1 seeds Pitt and Kentucky survived a series of high-profile tournament upsets to punch their tickets to Thursday's semifinals, where No. 3 seeds Texas A&M and Wisconsin will join the Panthers and Wildcats.

"The Final Four is just so special, it is so incredible," Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield said ahead of Thursday's action. "You want as many of your players that are committed, that decide to come here, you want them to experience that."

Two teams will look to make history this weekend, with Pitt and Texas A&M both in pursuit of a program-first national championship.

While the Aggies are in uncharted territory, booking their first-ever semifinals berth last weekend, the Panthers are hunting a breakthrough, hoping to claim a first-ever championship final appearance in their fifth consecutive trip to the Final Four.

As for Kentucky and Wisconsin, the Wildcats and Badgers will be looking to add a second trophy to their cases after booking their first program titles in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball Final Four

The 2025 NCAA volleyball semifinals begin at 6:30 PM ET on Thursday, when No. 3 Texas A&M takes on No. 1 Pitt before No. 3 Wisconsin faces No. 1 Kentucky at 9 PM ET.

Both Final Four clashes will air live on ESPN.

As the 2028 LA Olympics come into focus, the FIFA Council unveiled the regional allocations for the Summer Games' first-ever 16-team women's soccer tournament this week.

According to the Council's Wednesday report, 2.5 slots will go to AFC (Asia), 2 to CAF (Africa), 3 to Concacaf (North and Central America), 2.5 to Conmebol (South America), 1 to OFC (Oceania), and 4 to UEFA (Europe), with one additional slot reserved, as always, for the host nation — the reigning Olympic gold medalist USWNT.

While the expanded competition allows for greater depth, one AFC and one Conmebol team will ostensibly have to face an inter-continental playoff to determine which region can send an additional team to the 2028 Olympics.

One the other hand, Concacaf's representation will double from 2024, growing from two to four teams given the automatic berth of the USWNT.

Similarly, after host nation France's autobid boosted UEFA'a 2024 allocation to three teams, this week's new distribution doubles the European confederation's previous non-host two-team max for the LA Games — meaning all four of the 2027 UEFA Nations League semifinalists will qualify to compete for gold in 2028.

Notably, CAF and OFC are the only confederations to not see an increase on their previous allocation from the FIFA Council.

The puck dropped on the 2025/26 PWHL Takeover Tour on Wednesday, when the No. 2 Montréal Victoire took down the No. 5 Toronto Sceptres 2-1 in an overtime shootout in front of a sold-out crowd in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Packed into Scotiabank Centre, 10,438 fans watched Team Canada and Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin score the shootout's lone goal, handing Montréal their third straight win.

"It was amazing to see the young girls and boys in the crowd wearing our jerseys, saying our names, and wanting our autographs," said Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie. "It's just extremely special."

The PWHL's 16-stop Takeover Tour is just beginning, with nine games planned for Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Washington DC, Denver, and more before the league pauses for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

"We hope that the impact is a positive one. Everywhere we go, that's the impression we want to leave — for little girls to know that they have a dream and that their dream can become a reality," said Sceptres captain and Nova Scotia product Blayre Turnbull following Wednesday's Tour stop.

Halifax marks the third-year league's fourth sold-out stop, joining fellow Canadian cities Edmonton, Québec City, and Vancouver.

How to attend the 2025/26 PWHL Takeover Tour

The PWHL will next pull into Chicago's Allstate Arena for a Takeover Tour stop on Sunday, when the No. 8 Ottawa Charge will take on the No. 6 Minnesota Frost on at 2 PM ET.

Tickets are currently available for purchase via Ticketmaster.

Months after Napheesa Collier set the WNBA ablaze with her viral exit interview criticizing league leadership, the Minnesota Lynx star said "nothing has changed" at the front office level as CBA negotiations stall.

"The conversation has been had now [and] people are seeing that changes need to be made," Collier said this week from Miami, where Unrivaled 3×3 is gearing up for its second campaign.

"I feel confident in the [union] and where we are internally with our players and the future," she continued.

In her October press conference, Collier publicly called the WNBA front office "the worst leadership in the world," putting commissioner Cathy Engelbert in the hot seat amid tense CBA negotiations with serious implications on next season's play.

The league and the WNBPA are currently sparring over revenue sharing, with diverging compensation expectations further distancing the two sides.

"Obviously, there's frustration in that both sides are trying to get what they want, but we still have that fire within us that we're willing to do what it takes," Collier said. "We're going to do whatever it takes to get what we think we deserve."

As talks drag on, Collier sees Unrivaled — the offseason 3×3 league she co-founded with New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart — as fueling the players' fight.

"Us being here in December and January until March, it's a crucial time in the CBA," Collier acknowledged.

"Having us all in one place is beneficial," she explained. "To have players congregate in that way, where you can have those in-person conversations and updates like that, that does help to get things moving more quickly."