It was 2015, a year that has been etched into my memory. Barcelona had just conquered football, sweeping La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League in a dazzling treble. The final scoreline read 3–2, sealed by the magic of that iconic trio: Neymar, Messi, and Rafinha.
I was 14 then, and football was more than a mere sport. I vividly remember my mornings began with practice before school, lacing up my shoes. Yet, in those training sessions, I often felt the weight of being different. Few girls around me cared about sports, but even fewer about football. I envied the boys, who seemed to belong to a world I was desperate to be part of. Hoping one day I’d witness women players in the limelight.
Jump to the year 2025, women’s football is gaining its momentum. The current UEFA Women’s Euro is the largest event as the attendance has been record-breaking. Over 600,000 tickets were sold, setting the stage for the most attended Women’s Euro ever.
Before it was Messi, Cristiano, Maradona, now young football enthusiasts can look up to Aitana Bonmatí, Alessia Russo, Sam Kerr, Alexia Putellas, Patri and a whole bunch of amazing women footballers.
Decoding Aitana Bonmatí
Football is a sport that requires immense strategic, physical, and mental endurance. One of the most prominent names in women’s football is Aitana Bonmati, who began her career at the age of 17. Aitana Bonmatí won the Ballon d’Or, which is the most prestigious individual prize in both men’s and women’s football, not one but three times in a row. Aitana Bonmatí grew up in a home where standing up for what she believed in was simply part of life. From the start, her parents made a bold choice to challenge tradition, placing her mother’s surname before her father’s. In doing so, Aitana became one of the first in Spain to carry her mother’s name first—a quiet but powerful statement of equality that would shape the person she was destined to become. She was the lone girl in the boys’ team.
Bonmatí exhibits extraordinary technical finesse, seamlessly maneuvering the ball through tight spaces while maintaining constant awareness of her surroundings. Her vision and spatial intelligence empower her to dictate the tempo of matches. Moreover, her relentless off-the-ball movement and impressive stamina consistently create opportunities for her teammates and drive Spain’s dynamic, high-intensity style of play.
“We need to have women in more powerful positions that are making decisions, so when that 10-year-old girl is looking up and wondering, ‘What can I do and what do I want to be when I get older?’ She has the opportunity to do and be whatever she wants.”
— Abby Wambach
The debate over gender in sport is nothing new, and football is no exception. For decades, women have been underrepresented, underpaid, and held back by systemic barriers. While the popularity of women’s football has surged in recent years, it still doesn’t rival the global dominance of the men’s game. But on a positive note, female footballers are becoming global superstars and commercialisation is growing in all areas of the game. The 14-year-old girl in me would be overjoyed to see her favorite sport shattering barriers and achieving unprecedented growth.
Sachi Mahajan
Sachi Mahajan is a communication designer with a passion for creating projects that are conceptually profound. With a multidisciplinary approach, she blends storytelling in branding, comics, interaction design and strategic thinking to explore meaning through visual symbolism and craft experiences that leave a lasting impact. Off the design grid, she’s a curious soul, always seeking new adventures that fuel her creativity beyond the screen.
- Sachi Mahajan#molongui-disabled-link
