La Masia, factory of Ballon d'Ors: now 14

Alexia Putellas won the 2026 Ballon d'Or, the 14th award for a La Masia graduate, joining Messi's eight and Aitana Bonmatí's three.

La Masia, Barcelona's renowned academy, has produced 14 Ballon d'Or winners across the award's history. Alexia Putellas claimed the prize at the 70th Ballon d'Or ceremony, her third individual award, joining fellow La Masia graduate Aitana Bonmatí who has won it three times consecutively. Together with Lionel Messi's record eight awards, La Masia accounts for 14 of the trophy's winners.

Lamine Yamal, another Barcelona academy product, finished on the podium for the third consecutive year and won the Kopa Trophy for best young talent. Vicky López, also from Barcelona's academy, won the women's equivalent for the second consecutive year. The article notes that since France Football began awarding the Ballon d'Or to women in 2018, 75% of female winners have come from La Masia.

While some winners like Putellas and Bonmatí trained at multiple clubs before joining Barcelona, La Masia's dominance remains unmatched. The academy's most iconic moment came in 2010 when Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández occupied the entire podium.