ON THE BRINK

KHADIJA “Bunny” Shaw has long been one of Jamaica’s brightest stars. However, her historic achievement at the women’s Ballon d’Or has strengthened the belief that she deserves greater global recognition, with the dream of becoming the world’s best player closer than ever before. Reggae Girlz superstar Shaw finished third in the Ballon d’Or Féminin rankings on Monday at the awards ceremony in London. She finished behind winner Alexia Putellas of Spain, who claimed her third hold on the award, while compatriot and former Barcelona teammate Ewa Pajor finished second. Shaw, the only Jamaican and fourth non-European player to finish in the top three in the award’s history, had an incredible 2025/2026 season with Women’s Super League (WSL) and FA Cup champions Manchester City, where she finished with 35 goal contributions including 21 goals in 22 games to win her third-straight WSL golden boot.

The reigning WSL Player of the Season, Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Player of the Year and Football Writers Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year joined male superstars Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne as the only Man City players to finish in the top three. Tom Garry. Women’s football writer with The Guardian in the UK, Tom Garry, told the Jamaica Observer that Shaw’s third-place finish shouldn’t be underestimated. “The mere fact that she made the top three despite not playing Champions League football last season, said a lot about how revered she is and how immensely well-regarded she is across the world,” Garry said. “Almost every colleague I interact with in the media considers Shaw to be the best out-and-out central number nine in the world. ” Ayisha Gulati. Since joining City in 2021, Shaw has established herself among England’s elite, scoring 127 goals in 146…