On Monday, October 26, Khadija “Bunny” Shaw finished third in the 2026 Women’s Ballon d’Or rankings, becoming the highest-placed Jamaican in the history of the prestigious individual award. Only Spain’s Alexia Putellas, who claimed her third Ballon d’Or, and Poland’s Ewa Pajor finished ahead of the Jamaican.
The 29-year-old’s recognition followed a phenomenal 2025–26 campaign in which she scored 21 goals in 22 Women’s Super League appearances, helping her club Manchester City capture the league title. She also played a key role in the club’s FA Cup triumph, ending the season with 27 goals across all competitions.
Yet beyond the statistics, trophies and individual accolades lies a story that resonates deeply with Jamaicans at home and abroad.
A journey that began in Spanish Town
Shaw’s journey began with a love for the game that was not always encouraged. As a child, she watched her brothers play football and was determined to join them, despite her parents’ initial concerns about the opportunities available to girls pursuing the sport in Jamaica.
She persisted, developing her skills in her community before earning selection to Jamaica’s national youth teams. By the age of 14, she had already represented the country at the under-15, under-17 and under-20 levels, an early indication of the talent that would eventually take her around the world.
A student of St Jago High School, Shaw continued her development in the United States, attending Navarro College before moving to Eastern Florida State College and subsequently the University of Tennessee. There, she combined her academic pursuits with increasingly impressive performances on the football field, earning recognition as one of the standout players in American college football.
Her transition from promising Jamaican prospect to professional star followed in 2019, when she joined French club Bordeaux. She quickly demonstrated her goalscoring ability, establishing herself as a formidable attacking presence before Manchester City secured her services in 2021. Since then, Shaw has transformed into one of the Women’s Super League’s most prolific forwards.
From club success to national pride
While her club achievements have elevated her international profile, Shaw’s contribution to Jamaican football extends far beyond Manchester. She made her senior international debut in 2015, scoring twice in a 6-0 victory over the Dominican Republic. Since then, she has become Jamaica’s all-time leading goalscorer and one of the defining figures in the history of the Reggae Girlz.
Shaw was instrumental in Jamaica’s historic qualification for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, where the Reggae Girlz became the first Caribbean nation to compete at the tournament. Four years later, Jamaica returned to the global stage in Australia and New Zealand, advancing to the knockout rounds for the first time.
Those campaigns helped transform the profile of women’s football in Jamaica. The Reggae Girlz demonstrated that a team from a small Caribbean nation could compete against established footballing powers, while Shaw emerged as a central figure in that growing movement.
A podium finish, a nation’s triumph
Although Shaw did not claim the Ballon d’Or, her third-place finish deserves to be celebrated as a defining moment in Jamaican sporting history.
From Spanish Town to Manchester, from the Reggae Girlz to the Ballon d’Or podium, Bunny Shaw has shown that a small island can produce a footballer of truly global standing. If her remarkable journey has taught us anything, it is that Jamaica may be small in size, but when it comes to sporting ambition, we remain “likkle but tallawah.”
