The Race to succeed Megan Rapinoe: Who will win women's Ballon d'Or 2021?

The fight for the world's best footballer title is on, with the winner of the Women's Ballon d'Or to be decided on 29 November.

2018 Ballon d'Or awarded for best players of the year, Men's Ballon d'Or Real Madrid's Croatian midfielder Luka Modric, Women's Ballon d'Or Olympique Lyonnais' Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg and Under-21 Ballon d'Or (Kopa trophy) Paris Saint-Germain's French forward Kylian Mbappe pose at the end of the 2018 Ballon d'Or award ceremony at the Grand Palais in Paris. Photo: FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images

The award is in its third year after Ada Hegerberg emerged winner in 2018 and Megan Rapinoe won in 2019.

There was no award in 2020 as a result of the global pandemic.

Publication French Football hands out the award, and the prize is seen as one of the most respected awards in world football.

See the list of 20 candidates shortlisted for the Women's Ballon d'Or 2021 ⬇️

1. Stina Blackstenius

Club: Hacken

Country: Sweden

Position: Forward

Age: 25

Scored 31 goals across the calendar year. Five of those goals at the delayed 2020 Olympics.

She scored the first goal in the gold medal match for Sweden, however, Canada won on penalties.

2. Kadidiatou Diani

Club: Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)

Country: France

Position: Forward

Age: 26

Scored 13 League goals in 19 appearances. Capped 65 times for France. Won the French League with PSG last season putting an end to Lyon's 14-year rule.

For all her beautiful efforts, Kadidiatou Diani was named the League player of the season.

3. Christiane Endler

Club: Olympique Lyonnais (joined Lyon in June from PSG)

Country: Chile

Position: Goalkeeper

Age: 30

While at PSG, she conceded only 4 goals throughout the entire season.

Christiane Endler captained her country Chile as they competed at the Olympics for the first time.

4. Magdalena Eriksson

Club: Chelsea

Country: Sweden

Position: Defender

Age: 28

She was really strong in Chelsea's defence as they clinched the Women's Super League (WSL), League Cup and Community Shield. Also named in the PFA Team Of The Year.

To crown her beautiful season, Magdalena Eriksson was part of the Sweden squad that won silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

5. Jessie Fleming

Club: Chelsea

Country: Canada

Position: Midfielder

Age: 23

She won the Women's Super League and Continental Cup with Chelsea in her first season at the club as well as won a gold medal with Canada at the Olympics.

6. Pernille Harder

Club: Chelsea

Country: Denmark

Position: Midfielder

Age: 29

Runner-up in the inaugural Women's Ballon d'Or in 2018. Became the world's most expensive female footballer after joining Chelsea for an undisclosed fee from Wolfsburg.

Won the Women's Super League and Continental Cup as well as helped Chelsea reach Champions League final.

7. Jennifer Hermoso

Club: Barcelona

Country: Spain

Position: Forward

Age: 31

Helped Barcelona win the Premier Division for the second time in a row last season also the Champions League and the Copa de la Reina.

Hermoso emerged top scorer across all of Europe's top five Leagues with 35 goals.

8. Marie-Antoinette Katoto

Club: Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)

Country: France

Position: Forward

Age: 22

Last season, Katoto helped PSG win their first ever League title and scored 21 league goals. For club and country, she scored a total of 31 goals.

In France's 10-0 whitewash of Greece in September, Katoto netted her first hat-trick.

9. Sam Kerr

Club: Chelsea

Country: Australia

Position: Forward

Age: 28

Her third nomination in her career after winning the Women's Super League, League Cup and Community Shield with Chelsea in her first full season.

After scoring 21 times in 22 games, Kerr won the WSL's Golden Boot last season.

All-time top scorer for Australia (the Matildas) with six goals at this Summer's Olympics.

10. Fran Kirby

Club: Chelsea

Country: England

Position: Forward

Age: 28

Fran Kirby won the Women's Super League and the Continental Cup also reaching the Champions League final last season.

During the WSL campaign, she scored 16 goals and recorded 11 assists.

For England, she was part of the Team GB that reached the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics.

11. Ashley Lawrence

Club: Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)

Country: Canada

Position: Defender

Age: 26

One of the Canadian Olympic Gold medal winners.

Ashley Lawrence has 101 caps for Canada and made an extremely important clearance that helped her country avoid defeat during extra-time in the Tokyo final.

She was also part of the PSG team that clinched the French League title for the first time last season.

12. Lieke Martens

Club: Barcelona

Country: Netherlands

Position: Forward

Age: 28

Last season, with Barcelona, Lieke Martens won the Champions League, Primera Division and Copa de la Reina.

Barcelona became the first Spanish women side to claim a continental treble with these three titles.

For Netherlands, she was part of the team that won the 2017 Euro and reached the World Cup final two years later.

13. Samantha Mewis

Club: North Carolina

Country: United States

Position: Midfielder

Age: 29

The only United States member to be nominated.

She scored in the USWNT's quarter-final win over the Netherlands and went ahead to pick a bronze medal in Tokyo.

Before her return to North Carolina Courage, Samantha Mewis spent last season at Manchester City and scored 16 goals in 32 games in all competitions.

Mewis was named in the WSL PFL Team Of The Year at the season end.

14. Vivianne Miedema

Club: Arsenal

Country: Netherlands

Position: Striker

Age: 25

Not her first time on the Ballon d'Or shortlist.

Vivianne Miedema scored 100 goals for Arsenal in just 110 games in September.

Miedema was part of theDutch side that won the 2017 Euro. She holds several WSL scoring records.

15. Sandra Panos

Club: Barcelona

Country: Spain

Position: Goalkeeper

Age: 28

During the 2019/20 league season, which was cut short as a result of the global pandemic, she conceded just 0.26 goals per game.

Last season, Sandra Panos helped Barcelona win the Primera Division, Cup titles and the Champions League.

She also earned a spot in the Champions League team of the season.

16. Irene Paredes

Club: Barcelona

Country: Spain

Position: Defender

Age: 30

Irene Paredes is the Captain of Spain.

While at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) last season, Paredes was very helpful in the club's winning of the French League title as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Due to her efforts, she earned the title of Champions League defender of the season.

17. Alexia Putellas

Club: Barcelona

Country: Spain

Position: Attacking Midfielder

Age: 27

She won the Primera Division with Barcelona.

Alexia Putellas netted as she captained Barcelona to a 4-0 triumph over Chelsea in Gothenburg.

She closed the season as the highest-scoring midfielder in Europe with 26 goals in a competitions.

Putellas was named Uefa's Women's Player Of The Year as well as Midfielder Of The Year.

18. Wendie Renard

Club: Olympique Lyonnais

Country: France

Position: Central Defender

Age: 31

Wendie Renard was part of Lyon's defence that conceded only 6 goals in Division 1 Feminine all season.

She was named in Fifa's Fifpro World XI for the fifth year in total, two more than any other female player in history.

19. Christine Sinclair

Club: Portland Thorns

Country: Canada

Position: Forward

Age: 38

Christine Sinclair is one of Canada internationals on the list following the Country's first ever Olympic women's gold medal win.

Sinclair, after Marta, became the second footballer to score in separate five world cups in 2019.

Sinclair extended her record of being international football's all-time record scorer (in the men's and women's game) by moving on to 188 goals.

Last season which was shortened as a result of the global pandemic, she was Portland Thorns' top scorer with six to help them win NWSL fall series.

20. Ellen White

Club: Manchester City

Country: England

Position: Forward

Age: 32

Ellen White is in the race to become WSL's all-time top goalscorer with Vivianne Miedema.

White has 58 goals while Mediema has 64.

Unfortunately, her hat-trick in the Olympic quarter-final wasn't enough to help Team GB beat Australia.

Photos: GettyImages